


My Sempai is a Creepy Stalker (But I Kind of Like It)

by DarkIceAngelFlare



Series: My Sempai is a Creepy Stalker! AU [1]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: AU, Bad Attempts at Humour, Brotps everywhere!, Bullying, F/M, Fem Viper, Fluff, GokuTsuHaru friendship at its best, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Shoujo manga au, Swearing, Viper never gets a break, lots and lots of friendship, they're almost the same age
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-10
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-11 10:53:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 37,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3324857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkIceAngelFlare/pseuds/DarkIceAngelFlare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shoujo manga AU! Dame-Tsuna knew his place as one of the bottom-feeders of Namimori High. What he didn’t get was why his (only) friend from the exclusive Midori High tapped his phone, why his Italian penpal transferred into his school and why the hell the most popular guy in school was asking him out?! Well, more like claiming him… BUT THAT WASN’T THE POINT! Someone give him his ordinary school life back! (But hold the bullying) </p><p>Main pairing R27</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Same Old Story

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I know about the whole senpai vs sempai thing, but I prefer sempai :)  
> This is probably a manga already, but I’m too lazy to look for certain. Instead I’m just going to disclaim that if it looks familiar, it probably belongs to someone else. I will be using stereotypical shoujo manga situations but my plot just does its own thing. Oh, and in case anyone’s wondering, YES! An AU where they are almost the same age!! You’re welcome xD
> 
> Okay, yeah, if there’s any OOC-ness (which I really tried to avoid), please tell me but do keep in mind I’m trying to write this like a shoujo manga. Which means there will be lots of tears and mediocre angst. Don’t believe me? Watch Ao Haru Ride. Already have? Please share your thoughts with me! I liked that series even as I hated it, hence this fic.

“Dammit! I’m late!” Tsuna cried as he rushed down the stairs.

“Ah, Tsu-kun, would you like some breakfast?” Nana greeted her harried son with a plate full of toast and his bento. Grabbing his lunch and biting down on a piece of toast, he raced out the door without a backward glance.

“Tsuna-san!” a cheerful voice greeted him as he passed a crossroad and he took a bite out of his toast before replying in kind.

“You’re going to be late, Tsuna-san!” Haru said as she joined him for a short sprint.

“I know! Why are you running, Haru?”

“Exercise is good for the soul!”

With a wave and a laugh, she disappeared down the road leading to Midori High, leaving Tsuna to complete his impossible race alone.

“Herbivore,” Hibari gave his customary greeting as he pulled out his tonfas for the customary beating. “It’s the first day of class and you’re already late.”

Tsuna apologised in between swift blows, but Hibari wasn’t putting his full force behind them. Tsuna had never been on time for anything in his life. Hibari had thrashed him for it each day since elementary school. Eventually, it got boring.

Once the punishmenr was complete, Hibari gave him his timetable and class name before stalking off after his next victim. It was probably the closest Tsuna would get to a friendship in Namimori High, and wasn’t that just sad?

He arrived to a new class only to be greeted by the same sneering faces and the same disdainful expressions. Of course, there were one or two changes and maybe a few were neutral towards him, but that would change. He was Dame-Tsuna after all and oh look, someone had already carved that out on a table for him. How sweet.

Bobbing his head slightly in greeting to no one, he took his seat and pulled out his phone. A new email awaited his perusal. Most of it was in Italian, and used a vast amount of highly imaginative expletives. He quickly typed out a reply:

_‘Was late for school again. Got beaten up by Hibari, again. Still tired from our Sherlock marathon yesterday but it was worth it! Looks like another boring year of school for me.  
Say ‘hi’ to your sister from me! And no, I think your hairstyle is just fine. Talk to you when I get back from class – or at lunch. You still up for Skype later?’_

A quick glance through proved that it was written in flawless Italian, yet another thing he owed his only other friend in the world. Seeing the usual thugs walk into the room, he slipped his phone into his hidden pocket inside his shirt and tried to look as unobtrusive as possible.

Yes, just another day in the life of Sawada ‘Dame-Tsuna’ Tsunayoshi, Namimori High’s resident punching bag and social outcast.

* * *

At lunch time, Tsuna escaped to the school roof. Few came up there for fear of Hibari’s wrath since the prefect was known to use it for naps. Luckily, Nana’s home-cooked meals had long bribed the fearsome leader of delinquents into treating Tsuna’s intrusion as an endurable annoyance.

Tsuna sighed in relief as the door slid shut on his problems, even as he realised it was only a momentary reprieve. He pulled out his phone as made his way to his usual spot, smiling as he read the sleepy ramblings of his penpal. It was only after he had set down Hibari’s bento and opened his own that he noticed the acrid scent of nicotine and glanced up at an unfamiliar figure.

‘Shit, there must be a teacher here!’

Tsuna froze in place as he internally tried to come up with an excuse for being out of bounds. It was only after the person had stepped closer, out of the harsh sunlight that had reduced them to a mere silhouette, that Tsuna recognised the curly sideburns. His nervousness increased for a completely different reason.

‘It’s Kawahira Reborn!’

While Tsuna internally freaked out, Namimori’s male idol - thankfully not a teacher - approached and sat next to him.

“You do realise that you’re not supposed to be up here?” Reborn’s smoky voice trapped Tsuna with a question and it took several tries for him to reply.

“I-I could say the same about you!” Tsuna eventually threw out, wincing at the higher pitch and critical words. “I-I mean—”

“That’s true,” Reborn said, taking another drag of his cigarette. “I’m escaping my annoying friends. You?”

“Why would anyone want to hide from their friends?” Tsuna blurted out, before slapping his hand over his treacherous mouth.

“I’m avoiding, not hiding. There’s a difference.” Reborn glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. “From that comment, I assume you don’t have any friends.”

Tsuna blushed and ducked his head. “I have friends…”

“Online doesn’t count.”

“Does too!”

“Those aren’t real friendships,” Reborn said with a snort.

“Someone who spends his lunch break hiding from his friends shouldn’t be lecturing anyone about what friendship means!” Tsuna snapped back, getting to his feet. He glared at the older boy before turning around. “Excuse me,” he muttered as he left.

Reborn watched the boy’s retreat as he put out his cigarette. He reached for another before noticing that the boy had left his bento behind.

‘I’d hate to waste food…’ he thought, pulling it closer to him. He quietly unwrapped it, thinking all the while, ‘What an unusual kid.’

* * *

“I´m sorry, Hibari-san! I don’t know how it happened!”

The prefect narrowed his eyes at Tsuna before replying, “Don’t let it happen again, herbivore.”

Tsuna bowed at the waist as he shuffled out the door.

‘Stupid, stupid, stupid,’ Tsuna mentally cursed. How could he have forgotten Hibari’s bento? Normally he would leave it on the rooftop for the prefect to find, but he must have left it at home today. Or someone had filched it from his bag. It wouldn’t be the first time, but normally he would notice and give his own lunch to Hibari.

‘Worst first day ever.’ He rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache form as he hitched his bag higher on his shoulder. ‘Oh well. It can’t get any worse than this.’

“Oi, isn’t that Dame-Tsuna?”

‘Dammit!’ He should have known better than to tempt the fates that hated him.  That sounded like Ryouma, ringleader number 5 of the ‘We Hate Tsuna’ club (or so Tsuna had dubbed him). Knowing that they weren’t going to settle for anything less than a sound thrashing to start the year off, Tsuna began to rush down the hallway, uncaring whether it incurred the Disciplinary Committee’s wrath.

Hearing his pursuers give chase, he turned the corner sharply and collided straight into someone, sending them both sprawling on the ground. Bottles crashed around him, causing him to wince as shards of glass cut into his skin.

Gingerly, Tsuna shuffled away from the person he was sprawled on top of and absently noted that Ryouma and co. had caught up to him.

“I’m so sorry!” he cried, bowing profusely. The other person… did he just hiss? Wow, that sounded so real! He glanced up with a hopefully apologetic-seeming smile, only to be met with a harsh glare and a hand latching onto his arm.

“You imbecile!” the green-haired boy shouted, shaking Tsuna for emphasis. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You’ve completely ruined my experiment!”

‘Experiment?’ Tsuna blinked as the single word rolled through his mind. Biting his lip, he glanced down… and saw a snake sliding around his blazer.

“HIEEEEEEEE!” he screeched, falling backwards as he tried to get away from the icky slimy creature of doom and oh hell, it was wrapping itself around him! “Get it off me!”

Ryouma and several onlookers were laughing, while others had pulled far away from the reach of the dozen reptiles littering the ground among the broken glass. Hearing another hiss, Tsuna glanced around… and was that a chameleon on his shoulder? And why was there an iguana stalking him?

Animals hated Tsuna and he hated them equally. Even kittens attacked him for no reason! And now, to be caged in on all sides by them (and vicious ones to boot!), he knew he was screwed. The viper was tightening its coils and raised its head, baring its fangs. Tsuna whimpered, and then it was gone.

‘Eh?’ Tsuna blinked in surprise at the empty space where the instrument of his demise had been just seconds ago.

“Are you alright?” Someone was talking to him. He glanced over (oh hey, the chameleon was gone too!) as the addictive scent of espresso and tobacco made its presence known. Standing right next to him was –

“Reborn! Stop manhandling my experiments!”

Reborn smoothly insulted the green-haired boy and the two rapidly bantered back and forth, eventually leading Reborn to throw the snake at the other, which infuriated Verde (apparently that was his name. How… uninspiring) all the more.

Meanwhile, Tsuna was slowly processing the fact the school idol had just saved him, despite Tsuna’s earlier tantrum! Oh, how he regretted being so rude to the other boy. Reborn was such a nice person! He was the first person to ever really stand up for Tsuna, to help him out –

“Oi, are you still there, loser-who-doesn’t-have-any-friends?” Reborn asked, turning back to the second-year.

…

…

Forget it. Reborn was a complete and utter ASSHOLE.

“Just fine, and that’s not my name, you jackass!” he snapped back, shoving him away as he quickly took off. There were frustrated tears being blinked away from his eyes. He was such an idiot! Why would Reborn be any different from the rest? Tsuna was just there to be put down by others, their emotional stepping stone. How could he have even thought for a moment that someone inside that accursed school had seen him in a new light, had cared?

Reborn raised an eyebrow as the small boy disappeared into the crowd. ‘Still a weirdo.’ He ran his fingers over his sideburn. “Who was that?”

“That was just Dame-Tsuna, Reborn-san. You know, that completely useless kid people always complain about?” an unknown female batted her eyes at him as she replied. Her arm movements as she swayed slightly were designed to accentuate her breasts, which Reborn glanced at obligingly and deemed average. The only interesting thing about her was the information she had provided.

Ignoring Verde’s rants, he walked away, knowing the Disciplinary Committee would soon converge on his semi-friend. Better to stay away from that. It was too much effort to defeat such mediocre opponents. Instead, he focused on the only thing that had really peaked his interest that day.

‘Dame-Tsuna... I wonder what Viper knows about him?’

 

 


	2. I'm not the mafia (so stop asking, dammit)!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Viper contemplates the value of strawberry chocolates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Momma, qqsha, yaoi_yaoieverywhere, Nova_Discord, Madame_Kockout, AuraWhiteFox, MythLore, Antigone1Evenstar (SnowedIn14), Everyone_Falls and all the guests for the kudos! Also, thanks for the bookmarks!
> 
> On another note, hope you guys enjoy the update! Also, as was pointed out to me by 11jaemin16 and Crucifix HiME on FFN, there really should be OOC-ness in this fic (though I think Reborn was a creepy stalker in KHR as well). My thanks especially to 11jaemin16 who gave me the inspiration for the characters' new personality traits ^^ So please prepare for that (it's nothing too bad but it starts soon)! As always, if there are any errors, please let me know!
> 
> I watched Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun for inspiration for this chapter. If you haven't watched it but enjoy comedies, try it out! It is really funny.
> 
> Let me know what you guys think of this chapter and can anyone think of a pairing involving Verde? I'm completely blank.

Mammon Viper was a mysterious figure in Namimori High. She was said to have blackmailed Hibari for the privilege of walking around in a hoody that overshadowed her face. Despite being in the top class, few detected her presence in a classroom. She was never called on by teachers, which rumours claimed to be a result of significant bribes. No one ever saw her between classes or at gym, as if she were a ghost haunting the school.

She could make anything happen for the right amount of money. Want someone to disappear? She would make the hit. Need to make an 'accident' happen? All it took was one of her occult spells. Wanted information on someone? She knew everyone's dirty secrets. All, of course, for a price.

"Are you sure this is the place, Fon?" Reborn asked, glancing at the inconspicuous door.

"Yes, Reborn," the Chinese immigrant replied. "Trust me on this. I know Viper."

"Yes, we all know you know her. You mention her at least five times a day."

Fon smiled. "When you meet her, you will understand. She's so lovable."

Reborn eyed his friend suspiciously before pushing open the door. It creaked ominously. Cobwebs hung across the frame. Dust tainted the air and the musky scent of disuse permeated the old storage room.

"It looks like a room in a haunted house," Reborn said bluntly and ducked under the sticky strands of webbing.

The first thing he saw was a man-sized doll that looked suspiciously like Fon. The sign saying 'Fon Huang' was also a good clue. It practically bristled with needles.

…Maybe asking his friend for help had been a mistake.

"Ignore that," Fon said cheerfully, leading him past the doll (it was hanging from a noose. There was fake – or so he hoped - blood underneath it reading 'die'). "Viper likes to play games."

Reborn wondered what kind of games involved an Iron Maiden with stained spikes. Or the coffins littering the floor. Or the sharp sword hanging from the ceiling. Or the boxes lying haphazardly everywhere with absurd labels such as 'Wicca', 'Implements to Kill from Afar' and 'Fresh Eyeballs'.

Fon reached a wall of boxes that almost touched the roof and began to move them aside. "C'mon, Reborn, lend me a hand."

"What the hell are we doing?" Reborn asked, following suit.

"Going to see Viper. That is what you wanted, right?" Fon gave him an 'are-you-stupid?' stare and Reborn resisted the urge to hit him – barely.

After a few minutes, a sizeable hole was created. The boys vaulted over together.

"Die."

'Well, that was friendly,' Reborn thought, staring at the person in front of him. A figure wearing a hoody that covered most of its face was sitting elegantly on an ornate throne, sipping from a strawberry milk mini-pack while reading a book.

"Aww, Viper, don't be like that," Fon said, going forward for a hug. A sword was almost immediately pointed at his face, courtesy of the girl he had so often called the love of his life.

"Stay away from me, jock." The moniker was spat out as if it were something particularly foul.

"But I love you, Viper!"

"And I hate you. Are we done stating the obvious? Be gone!"

"You say the cruellest things," Fon said, sighing happily.

Reborn never knew Fon was a masochist.

"Look, I came to get your help with something," Reborn explained.

"And what does Kawahira Reborn want with someone like me?" Viper continued to read, her sword remaining fixed at Fon's throat.

"I need information on someone."

Fon winced. Viper's grip tightened on her book. She slammed the sword viciously against a locker, crying, "Thou poisonous bunch-back'd toad! A plague o' both your houses!" She suddenly whipped the sword around to point at Reborn. "Reputation is an idle and most false imposition, oft got without merit and lost without deserving."

Reborn blinked. "That sounds like a quote."

Viper snorted. "Heathen." She set the sword down across her knees. "Shakespeare, if you must know." She returned to her book.

"You have to phrase it better," Fon whispered. He turned to beam at his crush, who shuddered in return.

"Listen, Kawahira-"

"Reborn. I hate being referred to by my surname."

Viper paused and then continued, "You're under the wrong impression. I'm not the mafia, no matter what the student body thinks. Now, get out of my sight! Thou dost infect my eyes!"

"So you won't help me?"

"I can't help you!"

"You mean you won't."

Her book snapped shut. Viper stalked to the bolted windows, clearly intending to take her leave from them, when Reborn pulled out his ace.

"Guess we can cancel that bulk order of strawberry crème chocolates."

Viper's step faltered.

"It's a real shame. After all, such expensive Belgian chocolate is hard to find," Reborn continued, hands in his pockets.

"Indeed," Fon agreed, smiling. "Didn't you have to get it specially imported?"

"I don't know who you've been talking to," Viper said stiffly, "but I only eat cheap brands."

"Ah, but did you know, Fon?" Reborn continued as if she had not spoken. "This chocolate used to be one of the cheapest on the market. When a foreign chocolate company bought them out, they eventually stopped selling in Japan."

"Eh? Could it be that you're talking about the Purple Frog Snack Company?" Fon asked. "If I remember correctly, they were most famous for their-"

"Fantasma's Super Strawberry Chocolate," Viper said. She turned around with a quiet sigh. "You really need to stop bothering my mother, Fon."

The basketball ace smiled innocently in response.

"Tch. I am not the mafia, but I will accept your job. For the sake of the chocolate."

"The chocolate is honoured by your acceptance."

Viper's lips quirked slightly. "So who is the person that caught the Prince of Namimori High's eye?"  
________________________________________  
"Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Hieee! H-Hibari-san, what-?"

"Fill out this form, herbivore."

A piece of paper was shoved into Tsuna's face. Taking it, Tsuna's eyebrows shot up as he read over the document. "Um, Hibari-san," he began.

"Don't ask questions," the prefect said ominously and stomped off.

'But these questions are so personal!' Tsuna internally whined as he returned to his lunch. He would never get used to Hibari's oddness. Knowing better than to anger the prefect, he filled the page with a mix of truthful and ridiculous answers. His penpal helped with some, with Haru contributing as well once her lunch break began and she was able to message him.

Just before the bell rang, Kusakabe Tetsuya (the Vice-President of the Disciplinary Committee) showed up and whisked the form away without an explanation.

Tsuna was left as baffled as his friends.  
________________________________________

"Reborn," Viper greeted as she stood in front of his desk.

"Viper," Reborn replied with a tilt of his head.

Fon frowned. "Reborn, you shouldn't speak to Viper so familiarly. Right, Viper?"

"I don't mind," she replied immediately. Fon looked devastated.

"Class is about to start. You should get back to yours," Verde said, pushing his glasses back slightly.

"This is my class."

There was a moment of silence as all three boys wondered how they hadn't noticed.

"Why didn't you tell me, Viper? I would have congratul-"

"I've always been in this class."

Fon gulped. Reborn was annoyed. Verde found her highly amusing.

"Here's the information," Viper said, holding up a file. "You may receive it after I get paid."

("Hey, is that the Viper?" a guy asked.

"Yeah, I think it is," his neighbour replied.)

"I have one on me. I'll send the rest to your house," Reborn said, searching his bag for the confection.

Whispers soon broke out around them.

("Doing that sort of business in broad daylight? Mammon-san has nerves."

"What the hell is she doing near Reborn?"

"That skank had better stay away from Fon-san."

"Verde-san is too good for her company!"

"So that's what a child of the yakuza looks like," a boy sneered from a desk just behind Verde. "I wonder what it's like to have such a shitty excuse for parents.")

Viper, who had easily ignored the slights directed against her, stiffened and turned to face the boy.

"I will drain him dry as hay," she whispered, stalking closer to him. "Sleep shall neither night nor day hang upon his penthouse lid; He shall live a man forbid: Weary sev'n nights nine times nine shall he dwindle, peak and pine: Though his bark cannot be lost, yet it shall be tempest-tost. Look what I have." She opened her palm in front of the frightened boy's face, revealing a thin trickle of blood. She dipped her finger in it and drew a cross on his cheek. Bending closer, she whispered, "You will soon die."

The boy screamed and fainted. The classroom was deathly still. Viper walked back to Reborn's desk, took the tin from his hands and replaced it with the manila folder before walking out the door.

"Macbeth, in case anyone's wondering," Verde said loudly and spoke no more until the teacher came.  
________________________________________  
"I gave you no promise of accuracy. This was what information I gathered, against my wishes. If you wanted reliable information, maybe you should have taken this to a professional."

Reborn rolled his eyes. "Hello to you too," he said, shoving the crate into the doorway of Viper's house. "You realise I pretty much had to threaten Fon to get this address out of him? Seriously, just get together with him already."

Viper slammed the door in his face. Yes, what a lovable darling. Fon must have been dropped on his head repeatedly when he was a kid.

"For what it's worth, I thought they were being really unfair to you in class today!" he called out.

Viper opened the door again and said politely, "Would you like something to drink?" Seeing Reborn's raised eyebrow, she clarified, "My mother insists."

"I do not!" came a voice from behind. "It's just good manners and you being a lovely girl!"

Viper grimaced and Reborn laughed. He could spare a few minutes for the Mammon ladies (it would make excellent teasing material for Fon later).  
________________________________________  
"Reborn, if you try to steal Viper from me, I will never forgive you!"

"How did you get into my room?" Reborn asked Fon without turning away from the screen.

"Through the window," Verde replied as he crawled in through the aforementioned wall fixture. "And in answer to your next question, we used a ladder."

Reborn scoffed. "Of course you used a ladder. How else would you get into my bedroom on the third floor?" He paused the game and turned to look at his friends. "Did you come all this way just for that? It's my gaming night: you know I hate to be interrupted."

"We brought snacks." Verde held up a box and a plastic bag.

"Don't care."

"Pringles and fresh espresso from the barista across town."

"Make yourself at home." Reborn accepted the box, opening it to get to his daily fix of liquid heaven.

"Aren't you even going to respond to my declaration?" Fon cried.

Reborn sighed as he smelt the heady scent of espresso. "The idea is too ludicrous for a response."

Fon frowned but whatever he planned to say was overridden by Verde.

"What the hell are you playing?" the greenette said, mouth twisted in horror.

"It's a dating sim game." Reborn raised an eyebrow.

That distracted Fon. "What the hell, Reborn?"

Reborn shrugged, switching the game back on. The flat screen TV was immediately occupied by a busty brunette in a school uniform shyly clasping her hands in front of her while the sunset classroom background highlighted her blushing cheeks.

"I've… always watched you, Reborn-san!" Sayuri declared passionately (or so read the panels at the bottom of the screen).

"Creepy," Verde and Fon said in unison.

"I'm trying to concentrate over here," Reborn replied.

"T-That's why… recently, you've been so distracted and I-I just wanted to tell you that I'm here! If you ever need someone to talk to, I will be right here!" Sayuri finished with an embarrassed cry. Her large blue eyes stared at them from the screen imploringly.

Three buttons formed over her face.

A: Everything's fine.  
B: Vent.  
C: Coldly brush her off.

"Seriously, Reborn, what are you playing and why?" Verde demanded.

" _Love Love High School: Spring of Youth_." Reborn handed him a sheet of paper. "According to Viper, Tsuna likes to play this type of game so I'm trying it out."

"Reborn, what is your goal with this Dame-Tsuna anyway?" Fon asked.

"Don't call him that. Apparently it's an insulting nickname he got when he was a kid." Reborn selected option A. "Although he really is no-good at everything. His academic records are in that file over there. I'm surprised he even managed to get into high school."

The screen changed to show Sayuri turning her face away from the protagonist. "Why won't you trust me? You're such a liar, Reborn-san. I don't want anything to do with you anymore!"

Reborn slammed the controller down. "What the hell is wrong with this game? In real life, I've done exactly that with hundreds of girls before and it's always worked!"

"A game isn't real life," Fon said, patting his shoulder.

"It's a real life simulation, dammit!"

"You just haven't taken all factors into account," said Verde, opening the small booklet that accompanied the game. "In real life, you are a star athlete, come from a rich family, do well in school, and some brainless sycophants might find you attractive." He ignored Reborn's glare, knowing how much the latter hated to lose at anything. "In this game, you have to spend time studying and training if you want those attributes, you come from a divorced middle-income family, and you look 'plain with nice eyes'. In other words," he shut the booklet, "you're just a normal person."

"Are you implying that I can only get girls because I'm handsome and rich?" growled Reborn.

"Those are your words, not mine." Verde readjusted his glasses.

"Then let's see which of us can get the most amount of happy endings in one night." Reborn switched on two more monitors and picked up a bag filled with games. "Pick your poison, Verde, Fon."

Verde rolled his eyes as he picked up _Maid Heaven 3: The Mystery of the French Kiss_. Fon chose _High School Drama: Version Idol_!

"Reborn…" Fon said hesitantly as he waited for the game to load. "You realise that you're treating this Tsuna character as your newest obsession, right?"

"You realise that he's a guy, right?" Verde added.

"Yes and yes," Reborn said, switching to a new game to be fair. "He interests me. I don't know why."

Verde and Fon shared commiserating looks before starting their respective games.

"At least I know you'll stay away from Viper, for now."  
________________________________________  
Viper strode up to Fon's desk, confident that after that episode last week no one would say anything about her until she was gone. She idly noticed that the boy she had 'marked for death' last time was absent.

"Stop leaving roses in my shoe locker. It's creepy, distasteful and aggravating since I hate them." She tossed the delicately wrapped blooms onto the desktop.

Fon groaned as he slowly lifted his head to look at his crush. Dark bags shadowed his eyes as he smiled tiredly and greeted Viper. "Sorry, Viper, I will choose better next time. I pulled an all-nighter, so my brain isn't functioning properly."

"I don't care. Just please don't send me any at all!" she snapped and left him.

Reborn, whose head – like Verde's and Fon's – was resting on his arms, began to snicker.

"What's so funny?" Fon grumbled as he tried to find a comfortable position again.

"It's funny that you can get any girl you want in dating games yet you suck so badly at it in real life."

Verde's muffled laughter joined Reborn's, while Fon huffed.

"Whatever. Just remember that the person you're interested in is a guy, Reborn."

"Low blow, Fon. Low blow."

"Well deserved though."

"Touché."

Their laughter mingled in the air as the bell rang to signal a new day.


	3. A Wish for a Normal Day, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which things go wrong and people apologise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Thanks for the hits and bookmarks. Thanks to LazyCoffee, digi_smile, Toshiirou, XxxbladeangelxxX, Momma and all the guests for the kudos, and to LazyCoffee for the very informative comment! 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy the latest chapter! Sorry for the wait (although I should be working on Romance Dawn and uni instead… -_-)

\--Skedel has signed in–-

\--Ulupong has signed in-–

\--Alouette has signed in–-

 

Skedel: I have returned from the Underworld!

Ulupong: Tokyo isn’t the underworld, dolt.

Skedel: Well, it sure as hell felt like it!

Alouette: Did you get the goods?

Skedel: You know it! We are going to rock that convention next month, you’ll see!

Ulupong: What did they think of our collaboration idea?

Skedel: Swallowed it up like Heaven’s nectar. All systems are go!

Ulupong: I’m pretty sure that’s not how that expression goes…

Alouette: Needless to say, I will assist with background art only.

Ulupong: I’m just in charge of your storyboards and dialogue, right?

Skedel: Oi, one of you has to do clean up and stuff.

Alouette: I have better things to do.

Alouette: There had better be snacks when you return.

Skedel: I swear, all you people think about is food!

Ulupong: I will share some of my chocolate with you.

Alouette: I’m still surprised you took the job.

Ulupong: I couldn’t resist the chocolate. It was a one-time thing, though.

Skedel: I hope you were nice to Fon *heart*

Ulupong: Fuck off.

Skedel: Don’t be like that!!!

Alouette: You’re an idiot.

Alouette: Oh, and I can make it to the Osaka competition. The interschool conference will be held the weekend after.

Skedel: Awesome! We’re taking home triple-gold!!!

Ulupong: The things I do for you guys…

Ulupong: So, will you be seeing Dino at this conference? ;)

Skedel: He will be delighted to see you ;)

\-- Alouette has logged off—

Skedel: Whoops.

Ulupong: Too much too soon, I guess.

Ulupong: We must be reel them in slowly.

Skedel: For the sake of the ship!

Skedel: We shall persevere!

Ulupong: We are such nerds.

Skedel: I know. But that’s what makes us so awesome!

* * *

 

Message received. 8:34

Sender: Ulupong

I know it was you who told Fon to send me pansies! You know I’m allergic, asshole!

…

Message received. 8:37

Sender: Ulupong

You knew the try-outs were today! I’m the president! I can’t miss them!

…

Message received. 8:45

Sender: Ulupong

Fuck you. When I get a hold of you, you are DEAD MEAT.

…

Message received. 9:00

Sender: Skedel

Duuuuuuude!!! Ulu’s on a warpath over here! You know how much this means to her! How could you?

…

Message sent. 9:05

Receiver: Ulupong

There’s allergy medicine in the first aid kit. I forgot about the try-outs. I will have them postponed.

…

Message received. 9:10

Sender: Ulupong

I’m sorry too. I know how much you hate it when we tease you. But this was uncalled for. Next time, think twice.

…

Message received. 9:15

Sender: Skedel

She’s okay now. Jeez, you still can’t apologise properly. How have we stayed friends this long? Hehe, it’s cos I’m awesome, right? Right?

…

Message sent. 9:15

Receiver: Skedel

Why aren’t you in class?

…

-You have no new messages.-

* * *

“I have come to do a good deed!” Verde declared.

“It’s not April’s Fools,” Reborn said immediately, pressing buttons on his phone.

“What’s the catch?” Fon asked after he had swallowed his tea.

Verde bristled. “You come into my house, on the day of my daughter’s wedding-”

“Stop quoting the Godfather right now,” Reborn cut him off. “It doesn’t make sense and your accent is atrocious.”

“No, it isn’t! My impression is just like Don Corneo’s!”

“It is pretty accurate,” Fon agreed, “although we’re having lunch at school and you don’t have a daughter.”

Verde rolled his eyes. “Use your imagination, Fon.”

“Listen here: I’m Italian and I’m telling you as a fact that you sound like the worst German spy who infiltrated the resistance ever.”

“That might be because I’m actually German, but screw you!” Verde glared. “My Godfather impression would beat yours any day.”

Reborn paused his game, a challenge lighting his eyes.

“Are you playing another dating sim, Reborn?” Fon said incredulously, and the moment was lost.

“Yeah, apparently the mobile ones are easier, although you have to keep buying tickets to advance the episode and sometimes clothes.”

“If you’re wasting money on a mobile dating sim, you really need to be cut off,” Verde said, examining the screen.

“That would require my dad to notice, and then to actually give a shit. Two things he’s never done before,” Reborn replied, taking his phone back.

“So what’s your good deed, then?” Fon interjected smoothly.

“Oh, right,” Verde pulled out a poster from his bag with a flourish “Consider it your birthday present, Fon.”

“Cheapskate,” Reborn said immediately.

“Rich boy with a god complex.”

“Guys,” Fon frowned at them playfully before reading the flyer. “ _Date of school play auditions changed_?”

“We have a school play? Since when?” Reborn asked.

“This is our first in over twenty years. There’s a lot riding on it. The auditions are going to be in two weeks.”

“I fail to see the importance of this,” Fon stated, reading the flyer again.

“You know, for someone who writes whole sonnets about Viper’s nose, you really don’t know much about her, do you?” Verde muttered, opening his lunch box.

“This is about Viper?” Fon pursed his lips. “Well, she’s part of the amateur theatre group ‘Namimori Players’… and she loves drama and plays… so she’ll probably try out for this?” His eyes shone suddenly. “So she could be the heroine and I the hero and it will be love stage!”

“That’s a yaoi manga, so no,” Verde said between a bite of his baguette. Fon deflated. “You’re half right though. Viper is most likely going to be the heroine if she tries out, but even if she doesn’t, you’ll still see here all the time because she’s on the committee.”

“What committee?” the other two asked.

Verde rolled his eyes. “The theatre club committee. They’ve been around for the past three years, but they were always too small to do a real play or anything. This year, with their new president, they’ve got the funding, the venue and the permission to go all out and they intend to.”

“And Viper is the president,” Reborn stated, to which Verde nodded.

“So you’re giving me a way to spend time with Viper! This is the perfect gift!” Fon grinned.

“It doesn’t come without a price,” Verde said mildly.

‘Knew it,’ the other two thought, synchronising their eye-rolls.

“What’s the catch?” Fon asked with a sigh.

“Take part in the interschool Survival Game Tournament with me. Both of you.”

Reborn raised his eyebrow. “Since when did you like survival games?”

“Since they offer a substantial monetary prize. Even if we split it three ways, it can still pay for my experiments throughout the year and will let me to save my allowance for Tokyo’s AnimeCon.”

Fon shrugged and accepted. Reborn followed suit, having intended to take part anyway.

“You still have to win the part, though,” Reborn reminded Fon.

Fon in return smirked, his entire facial expression turning into something too sinful to be innocent. “Oh Reborn, how can you doubt? All the hero needs to do is win the heart of the ladies, and that is something I excel at.”

Far below them, in the sick bay where she was recovering from her allergy attack, Viper shuddered as if someone had set alight her shrine to Shakespeare.

* * *

“Be careful with the stitching or I’ll get yelled at by the president,” Haru said, eyes never straying from the material spread out in front of her.

“I don’t see why _you_ have to create the whole team’s uniforms anyway. What’s the point of having a cosplay club if you don’t actually do the work together?” Tsuna asked, dutifully checking his stitches again.

“Now, Tsu-kun, Haru-chan just wants to spend time with you!” said Nana, easily sewing together the intricate pieces of the green jacket.

“You know it, Nana-san!” Haru said cheerfully, before shrugging at Tsuna. ‘You know how they are,’ she mouthed at her best friend who smiled bitterly in response.

“I don’t mind helping,” Tsuna protested, “but you could spend time with me without all this work. Just say no, Haru.”

She stuck her tongue out at him playfully. “I will the day that you confess your feelings to Kyoko!”

“Haru!” Tsuna said despairingly, tossing a cotton spindle at the laughing girl.

“Kyoko-chan is such a sweet girl. I’m sure you and her would be a lovely couple together.”

“Mum!” Tsuna pouted at his mother, who laughed serenely in response. He turned his attention to the only sane person left in the room. “Hayato, tell them to stop bringing up Kyoko-chan! It’s embarrassing!”

Gokudera Hayato looked away from his careful stitching to glare at Haru through his computer monitor. “Oi, idiot woman, stop teasing Tsuna with that ugly hag.”

“I’m not an idiot!” yelled Haru. “And your stitches are off!”

“What? Where?” Hayato hurriedly re-examined his jacket.

“Hayato, you’re in Italy. Why are you also stitching?” Tsuna asked, sweat-dropping.

The silver-haired Italian smiled. “Because everyone was doing it! I’m just joining in.”

“He’s gotten further than you, Tsuna,” Haru pointed out.

‘But his doesn’t even count! He’s not going to send us it from Italy!’ Tsuna internally protested while picking up his needle again.

“Why is everything green anyway?” Hayato asked after a moment of silent needlework.

“For the camouflage effect,” replied Haru. “Apparently it’s an important part of survival games.”

“It sounds like so much fun,” Hayato said with a sigh. “I wish I had something like that here.”

Tsuna shuddered. “They’re monsters in there, Hayato. Best to stay far away.”

Hayato was about to reply when an alarm went off. “Shit, I gotta get to my next lesson. See you guys later!”

“Bye, Hayato!” the three Japanese chorused as the screen blacked out and was replaced by the blinding blue of Skype.

“You know,” Nana began, “when I was in school, boys used to send me the cutest love letters and that’s how we would get together.”

“Mum, stop!” Tsuna whined. “Kyoko would never get together with me!”

“You won’t know until you try,” said Nana solemnly.

* * *

‘Well, that’s the last time I’ll ever listen to Mum,’ Tsuna thought bitterly while laughter rang around him. ‘I wish I could live in the same fairy tale world as she does.’

“Listen to this one: it’s pure gold!” Matsuda shouted to the enraptured crowd. “ _Kyoko-chan, you’re the nicest, sweetest girl in the whole school: a diamond among the rough, the Camilla growing among the thorny bushes. I wish you were mine because you’re oh so divine!”_

Tsuna gritted his teeth. He had never written that last line, but no one would believe him. Tears of frustration rose in his eyes as his class mocked his love confession which was meant to be for Kyoko’s eyes only.

Sasagawa Kyoko, for her part, was listening with an uncomfortable smile on her face. Every now and again she would utter a token protest, but she had been the one who had let the boys read the letter aloud in the first place. Mostly she just stood there, waiting for it to be over.

Tsuna caught her eye in a humiliated embrace, but she hurriedly turned away. Well, that was a clear indication of her feelings, or lack thereof in this case. He grabbed his bag and hurried off to lunch, ignoring the raucous calls behind him and Matsuda calling: “Don’t you want to kiss the ‘ _sweet lips that can smile brighter than the sun’_?

When he reached the roof, Tsuna curled up in a miserable ball and choked back the angry tears trying to get out. What wouldn’t he give to be able to throw his emotions away, to stop caring as he should years ago? Why did have to listen to his idiotic mother in the first place? What could she know of romance and real life when she had wasted thirteen years of her life married to a cheating, lying bastard?

The bell rang but Tsuna didn’t move. He couldn’t erase the ache in his chest nor the burning shame that arose just thinking about what had happened in that classroom. He never wanted to see Kyoko again, or even hear her name.

He tried taking in the deep, calming breaths his therapist recommended but it didn’t help. He dug his fingernails deep into his forearms but it didn’t help. Tears still fell from his eyes when he tried to rip the pages from his notebook to relieve the pressure pounding in his ears. There were other ways of dealing with this, ways that would make it disappear for longer. Yet he couldn’t make his mother cry, nor could he ignore the pinging worries of his cell phone.

Shakily, he pulled out the mobile and read the messages from Hayato and Haru, both asking if he was okay and why he hadn’t come online during his break. Smiling softly, he sent them a quick message: “I’m fine”.

The world didn’t seem so black anymore. He could face his class again, and so he did. The teacher yelled at him for missing a lesson, and his classmates jeered and Kyoko came up to him and told him she wasn’t interested but Tsuna bore it all. It was okay. He had Haru and Hayato and his mother, even if Nana was sometimes too silly for his tastes. As long as he had their smiles in his mind, he could keep his head held high.

He shot out of the class the moment the bell signalled the end of the day. He didn’t need the extra humiliation. What he needed was a hug and comfort, and Haru was great at both. Maybe they could go to that cake shop she liked. Mum wouldn’t mind the expense if he brought Haru home afterwards.

He was thinking so intently that he didn’t notice Reborn standing next to his foot locker until Reborn said, “Chaos.”

Tsuna yelped as he jumped backwards. “W-What do you want?” he stuttered, clutching his outdoor shoes to his chest.

Reborn raised an eyebrow, smirking at the brunette. “You needn’t be so on edge.”

“What do you want?” Tsuna snapped again, wanting to get away from the weird sempai who he kept bumping into.

“I came to give you a gift,” Reborn drawled, extending a small gift bag.

Tsuna hesitated, then took it. “Why?” he asked, not opening it.

“To apologise for our earlier misunderstandings,” Reborn said.

Tsuna glanced at the gift, then Reborn and then the gift again. “Thanks,” he said. “That’s sweet of you.”

“Open it,” Reborn encouraged. “I doubt you have it, but if you do, I’ll get you another one.”

“Umm, okay?” Tsuna slowly pulled out his gift. ‘He’s being oddly nice,’ he thought, lifting up the gaming cover with a small smile.

The cover read:                                                                          

**Japan’s newest dating sim! The long awaited sequel to _Love Blooms in the Summer Time_ is finally here! It’s the dating sim every high school boy should have!**

**Learn all the tricks and tips to getting your dream girl in our latest release: _I’m in love with the school idol!_**

The game collided hard with Reborn’s chest and he could only stand astonished as tears rose in Tsuna’s eyes. “Screw you! Does it make you feel better to put me down again and again?” He swallowed heavily. “Why would you even go this far to shame me? I never meant – what did I ever do -? Please, just leave me alone!”

Tsuna barely managed to get his shoes on before he was racing out the door. Suddenly the faces of his loved ones seemed so far away and the desire for release so much sharper in comparison.

* * *

**OMAKE**

**xider on FFN asked what would have happened if Reborn had pressed Option C instead of A in the game last chapter, so here you go!**

* * *

 

Option C: Coldly brush her off.

Sayuri's eyes become teary as she extended her hand towards Reborn. "Reborn-san! Wait! Please don't just leave..." She sniffled. "Why are you always like that? What pain do you have in your past?"

She turned away from the screen.

Sayuri's love affection just went up! Congratulations!

Fon stared at the blue box on the screen. "I don't get women."

Verde snorted. "It's just figuring out the arithmetic of the game. Simple."

"Oh yeah?" Reborn raised his eyebrow. "Why don't we take a bet on it? I'll go by charm and you go by your mathematical logic and let's see who has more girls at the end of the night."

Verde snarled an agreement as he blindly snatched up a game. He hated to lose.

"And I, on the other hand, will win through honesty of heart," Fon inserted, picking a disc at random.

The other two snorted. 'Amateur,' they thought.

...14 hours later...

"Well, that was easy," Fon said, stretching his limbs until they cracked. "I played three different games and got the happy ending five times, although one was a yandere so I don't know if that counts. What about you guys?"

Reborn and Verde were collapsed before their respective consoles, their controllers lying uselessly beside them. On both screens flashed 'GAME OVER'.

"So I take it the answer was none."

Twin grunts cut through the damning silence.

Fon sighed and said philosophically, "Love must always come from the heart."

Verde and Reborn flipped him off effortlessly.

* * *

**So, contest time! The first four people who can correctly identify the three people texting at the beginning** **of the chapter (as well as the language that their pseudonyms are in) each get to pick a character who will show up in the next two chapters! It’s pretty easy, so I hope you guys try out** **J On another note,  I’m not too sure about Verde’s pairing yet even though a lot of people were calling for Verde x Skull (which could work well, actually). I think I’ll wait until there is more character interaction before deciding.** **ou so much!! This is going down as one of my favourite reviews xD I’m so glad that you liked it, and I hope you continue to do so! There’s still a lot to go, so hopefully this will keep your Flames burning bright!**


	4. A Wish for a Normal Day, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every character deserves a chance at love...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kudos, views and bookmarks! Huge shout out, thanks and congratulations to LazyCoffee for guessing correctly without using Google Translate and for commenting! I hope you like how Fran worked, because he is here to stay :)
> 
> Random notes: Warnings for swearing and certain implied content. The correct answers for last week’s contest were: Alouette – Hibari in French; Skedel – Skull in Afrikaans; Ulupong – Viper in Tagalog/Filipino. If you guys read Romance Dawn, I have a poll on my FFN profile for choosing pairings for the story so please vote if you go over that side :) Thanks to all you guys who read “Transport me to a whole new world”, my new R27 story that I should not have written but did anyway.

 

Haru brushed aside her hair as she sketched a new design on a piece of paper. On the other side of the classroom, a group of students tittered away while drinking tea, oblivious to her presence. Usually there would be treats as well, which were the only things Haru sometimes partook in, but the president was at a meeting.

Speaking of missing persons, Tsuna hadn’t answered any of her messages today. Was he okay? Even Hayato had sent her a worried message. Then again, maybe the bullies had gotten a hold of him. Haru hated bullies, especially the ones that hurt Tsuna. Nana had even asked Haru about transferring Tsuna to Midori High, but Haru doubted it would happen. Besides, there was bullying even here.

No, she wasn’t going to feel down today! She had promised to be cheerful, so cheerful she would be, lest her work suffer for it. She smiled ruefully as she glanced over her work, until the door slid open.

“Hey, is this the cosplay club?” a giant frog head asked.

The other occupants glanced at the speaker, before sniggering and trading insults among each other.

“Yes, it is,” Haru answered finally, causing the frog head to turn to her. “Did you need something?”

“The welcome girl is so uncute. How lame,” the frog head said monotonously.

Haru’s smile became forced. “I guess you can go bother the others then.” She returned to her work.

“Does the ugly face have a name?” asked the boy, seating his thin body on the table top.

“Haru does not have an ugly face!” she replied angrily.

“I’m Fran. I just transferred into the school ten minutes ago. I signed up for this club as of this moment. Where can I get a form?”

Haru stared at the stranger for a few moments, before sighing and telling him where to go. However, Fran didn’t move.

“What are you working on, Ugly Face?”

“My name is Miura Haru!” she snapped.

“It looks like a gun harness.”

She was effectively distracted. “It’s good, right? It’s a HaruHaru original!”

“It wouldn’t work for most guns,” Fran said bluntly. “And the straps are too thin. It could snap in a real battle situation. Redo it.”

“Excuse me? Who do you think you-?”

The frog head wandered off without so much as a goodbye, leaving Haru fuming behind him.

* * *

Tsuna wandered into his home at an indefinite time of night. The lights were still on. His mother was sitting on the staircase reading a book.

“Tsu-kun, where were you?” she asked carefully, not looking up from the book.

Tsuna shrugged, dumping his shoes on the rack. His head was still spinning and if he bent over he had a feeling he would fall down.

“Tsu-kun, you know I worry about you,” Nana began, but Tsuna tuned out her words. He glanced listlessly at the kitchen, then at the stairs. Sleep sounded good right now. He made to walk past his mother but she threw out her arm and stopped him in place.

“Is it the bullies?” she demanded. “Is it that school again? Just say the word, Tsuna, and I’ll send you to Midori High. Money’s not an issue!”

“Mum, I’m fine,” Tsuna said. “I’m just tired.”

Nana grabbed his shoulders and forced him to face her. “Is that the truth? Promise me you didn’t hurt yourself, Tsuna.”

Tsuna met his mother’s desperate gaze and said evenly, “I didn’t do anything. I’m just tired.”

Nana looked at him for a while longer before letting go with a nod. She smiled as she turned away, asking, “Do you want some supper first?” Her voice only quavered slightly.

“Not hungry,” Tsuna muttered and climbed upstairs. From the landing he could hear his mother choke back a sob, but it didn’t resonate with him. Lying came so easily when he was like this. Guilt disappeared, his chest stopped hurting and caring about anything became a chore. If only he could spend the rest of his life like this, he would die happy.  

* * *

“Have a nice day at school, hunny!”

“Thanks, mum!” Viper called behind her as she shut the door. Honestly, her mother could be too sweet sometimes. She turned to leave the doorway and smacked into a solid chest.

“Could you have taken any longer?” Reborn snapped.

“First Fon, now you! Will you people never leave me alone?” Viper cried, throwing her hands into the air as she moved as far back as she could in the cramped space.

“I’m not stalking you. If you would give me your number, I wouldn’t have had to come here in person!”

“Because that doesn’t sound like something a stalker would want!”

“You know, for a mobster wannabe you are surprisingly stupid!”

“I AM NOT A MOBSTER WANNABE!”

The two students angrily faced each other down. Finally, Reborn took a deep breath and backed off.

“Look, Viper, I-”

“Reborn? What are you doing here?” Fon asked, peering up at them from the garden.

“For the love of - GAH!” cried Viper, and disappeared into her house again.

“You have the worst timing!” Reborn rounded on his friend.

“You’re the one caught in a compromising position at my crush’s house,” Fon pointed out calmly as he rang the doorbell.

“I just came here to find out something about Tsuna!”

“Ah, Fon, thank you for delivering me tea on such short notice!” Viper’s mother greeted as she opened the door.

“It’s a pleasure, Mrs Mammon,” Fon said, bowing as he offered her a packet.

“Please, call me Chrome.” The pleasant woman smiled as she took the offering. “Allow me to give you a token of my gratitude.” So saying, she launched her daughter through the door and straight into Fon’s arms, which caught Viper reflexively.

“Mum! You traitor!” gasped Viper while Fon’s face lit up in pleasure.

“I will take good care of her!” he exclaimed, earning a laugh from Chrome before she shut the door. “Viper! We have your mother’s blessing!”

“You don’t have mine!” snarled the blushing girl as she tried to disentangle herself from Fon. “Let go of me, damn you!”

Fon deeply breathed in the scent of his crush before releasing her.

“Did you just sniff me?” The portion of Viper’s face left unexposed looked horrified.

“Maybe,” Fon replied brightly.

“Anyway,” Reborn interrupted before Viper could run off or start a tirade, “do you know why Tsuna was upset yesterday?”

“If I tell you, will you keep this freak away from me for the rest of the day?”

Reborn glanced pleadingly at Fon, who sighed and acquiesced.

Viper readjusted her bag’s strap as she walked down the garden path, the boys following suit. “I heard there was some commotion in his class yesterday. Rumour has it that Tsunayoshi confessed to Sasagawa Kyoko and was humiliated in front all of his classmates because of it.”

Reborn froze, his mind making the connections between his gift and the incident. “Shit.”

“You know, for someone who denies being part of any ‘information network’, you sure do keep track of all the rumours in the school,” commented Fon lightly.

“Not all of us have the luxury of being popular. I do what is necessary to not end up like Tsunayoshi!” snapped Viper.

“Hey,” Fon caught Viper’s wrist and made her face him, “what do you mean by that? Has anyone ever done something like that to you?”

Viper sneered. “What do you think?” She wrenched her arm away and stalked off.

Fon stared after her blankly, only coming out of his reverie at Reborn’s hand on his shoulder.

“Why don’t you ask Kyoya?” Reborn said, pushing his friend along until Fon began to walk with him.

“The older brother turning to the younger for help?” Fon’s lips twitched into a smile. “Is that normal?”

“Step-sibling relationships are never normal.”

“I’ll ask, though I doubt he’ll tell me.” Fon shrugged. “Still a start. If people are hurting Viper,” Fon’s eyes hardened as he spoke, “I will make them pay.”

Reborn smirked. “Now you’re speaking my language.”

* * *

 

“Vongola,” Hibari stated, staring down his rival.

“Hibari,” was the cool reply from Midori High’s head of discipline.

“Now, Xanxus, we talked about politeness, didn’t we?” Dino berated his colleague, who cocked his BB gun and aimed it at Dino’s head in reply. “Haha, let’s forget about it. How are you, Kyoya?”

Hibari glanced at the blonde but said nothing.

“Okay then,” Dino continued, only slightly disturbed. “Well, this meeting was called because-”

“We know why we’re here,” Xanxus inserted, his gun still focused on the student council president.

“Would you please put your gun away and let me finish?” Dino whined.

“Will you stop being annoying?” Xanxus shot back.

The two representatives of Midori High continued to bicker, and Kusakabe Tetsuya watched with growing concern as Hibari got more and more annoyed.

“If we are not going to discuss the Survival Game Tournament, then leave, herbivores,” Hibari finally said coldly.

“Now, Kyoya,” Dino began remonstratively but Xanxus cut across.

“Who are you calling a herbivore?”

“There are only three other people in this room,” Hibari pointed out, “and they are all herbivores.”

Xanxus shot off three bullets in quick succession, which Hibari dodged easily as he pulled out his tonfas and engaged in a close-quarter battle with Xanxus.

“Guys, stop!” Dino cried, but it fell on deaf ears. “We’re not supposed to be fighting!”

But of course there would be fighting, Kusakabe thought, sighing. There was always fighting when Xanxus and Hibari met. The problem was Dino. He was only exacerbating the issue with his presence. If only Midori High had been sensible like Namimori High, and combined their Disciplinary Committee and Student Council into one entity. Dino was a good student council president, but Hibari had no patience when it came to dealing with the blonde playboy.

“Kyoya, be sensible!” Dino managed to say before a tonfa smashed into his gut.

There was a lot of bloodletting that afternoon.

Hibari returned home with tonfas dripping blood on his immaculate floors, only to find his step-brother drinking tea in his living room.

“What do you want, herbivore?” he snapped at Fon, dumping his weapons on the table. “My home is not a place to invite yourself to without warning.”

 “I came for a spar.”

“Then why didn’t you just say so?” Hibari’s tonfas were back on in a second and the brothers proceeded to bond in the only way they knew how – through violence.

As they lay panting in the dirt later, Fon finally asked his question. “Is Viper being bullied?”

“I hate ulterior motives,” Hibari stated, dragging himself to his feet.

 “I needed a challenge,” Fon said defensively, “but I also knew you wouldn’t answer if I asked you straight out.”

Hibari turned away. “This is why you stand no chance with her.”

“That’s a little harsh.” Fon frowned.

“You’re a carnivore that has never noticed the classes of animals below you. You have never known what it is to be a herbivore, what it is like to long for fangs just to stave off the circling predators. You see Viper as a carnivore she is, but unlike you, she was forced to become one. That is why the two of you will always be at odds.”

“Neither of us can understand the other?”

“Exactly.”

Fon left quietly.

* * *

Verde’s pen stilled as a notification popped up on his phone, informing him that someone had reblogged his post on tumblr. Clicking the screen, he read what ‘the-immortal-skull’ had written.

_I bawled my eyes out when Nine and Twelve died! It was completely unfair! Fucking Americans…_

Smiling, Verde responded: _Yes, they do have a habit of showing up in anime where they’re not wanted and screwing everyone over. But it was Five who forced their hands._

He got a swift reply. _Yeah, yeah, but they had no reason to believe that Nine and Twelve were going to tell people what they did. Hell, if they needed to shut someone up, shut up the detective or Lisa (who had been kidnapped by them!!). And on top of that, they just left after shooting Twelve! That makes no sense!_

Verde quickly began typing. _Nine was on the verge of death anyway. There was no need to take him out. No one would listen to Lisa and need I remind you that Nine and Twelve were TERRORISTS? Of course there was a possibility of them telling the world about the American involvement in the incident, especially if it would help clear their names!_

The conversation went on and on between the two tumblr users. Verde soon forgot about his homework, becoming engrossed in discussing the intricacies of Zankyou no Terror’s plot. the-immortal-skull made some good points, but others were really dumb. Still, it was more fun talking to him about ZnT than it was talking to Fon, who hadn’t been so taken with it.

_Hey, it’s like three a.m. here, so I’m heading to bed. Nice chatting to you, mad-green-scientist!_

_You too, the-immortal-skull :)_

Verde switched off his lights and went to bed smiling. 

* * *

Tsuna woke up some time late in the night. Had he slept through the school day? One glance at the three containers filled with food sitting on his bedside table confirmed that yes, his mother had let him skip school.

He vaguely remembered waking up and deciding not to go to school. Now his head throbbed, his throat was sore and guilt hit him like a ton of bricks.

Tsuna berated himself as he walked to the bathroom. How had he been so stupid? He had hurt himself, his mother and if his friends found out… no, it didn’t bear thinking about. He washed up and drank some water to clear his head. He needed to apologise to his mother. Yesterday – or was it the day before? – had just been a bad, bad day and nothing more. He needed to assure his mother that he wasn’t falling back into his bad habits.

He re-entered his bedroom and opened one of the containers with a grimace. His mother was too nice for her own good. He whispered a blessing and was halfway through the lunch tin when he noticed the roses.

Fifteen orange roses were placed off centre on his desk, in a crystal vase Tsuna had never seen before. He picked up the delicate glass and searched around for an explanatory note but found none. His mother had no reason to give him flowers but who else would have?

He searched his pockets for his mobile and pulled it out. Maybe Haru would know. He ignored the glaring amount of missed calls and unread messages, opting to browse through his list of four contacts for Haru’s.

Except there were five numbers awaiting him.

Hands trembling, Tsuna opened the new contact and saw that yes, there was number, a name and a ringtone set, none of which he remembered getting or creating. There was also a matching profile picture: Kawahira Reborn holding the roses that were sitting on Tsuna’s desk.

… What the _fuck_?

* * *

 

**Let the creepiness begin!**

**I know some of this update may seem at odds with the rest of the light-hearted chapters, but I have been trying to hint at some of the serious issues that will come into play in this story. KHR and many shoujo manga often use bullying as a theme, but gloss over the after-effects which I think is a serious crime. In fact, I think the only time KHR really focused on it was when Enma came to the scene and then it was forgotten. Therefore, bullying is going to be a major theme in this story, and is probably the darkest part of it. I do intend for most of this fic to be light-hearted, but there will be various dark undertones running through it.**

**I hope this doesn’t turn you off, but if it does, thank you for reading this far! Let me know what you guys think :)**


	5. Missing Balance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsuna was starting to hate roses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the follows, views and kudos everyone! Shout out to crobhdearg, GraversParadise, yvonna and marigoldmonster especially, and an even bigger thanks to Mythplaced_Logic for the comment! 
> 
> Also, thank you to the KHR FFN community on FB who helped me decide on B’s role in this fic.

Bermuda Von Veckenschtein took his bloodied handkerchief back with a sniff. If it wasn’t for his fine breeding and excellent training, he might have grimaced at the bloody scene before him, but experience kept even the tiniest of twitches from his face. “May I begin cleaning up, young master?”

Reborn turned over one of the unconscious bodies. “I think I’ve made my point, don’t you, Bermuda?”

“My only worry is that you’ve scared the point right out of them.” Bermuda waved for the lower servants to deal with the mess. _He_ wasn’t going to dirty his hands with such lowlife scum. “Come now, young master, or you will be late for supper.”

“I have one more errand to run. You can send someone else to accompany me if you like,” Reborn said dismissively, flicking some blood from his hand. “Do you know where my last target is?”

“The girl is at her house right now.” Bermuda pulled out a pristine new handkerchief and proceeded to clean his master’s hands. It would later join his master’s suit, his own suit and five other linens in the furnace. “It will be quite the mission to get to her and not alert her family members while you, _ahem_ , have a chat with her.”

“I like challenges,” Reborn replied with a wild smirk, pulling away.

Bermuda stifled a groan, knowing there was no way to turn his master away from his goal. He almost wished that he wasn’t the head butler of the Kawahira family.

He trotted faithfully after his youngest charge, his face devoid of all expression. Inside, he plotted a gory demise for the imbeciles who had given Reborn a new obsession.

* * *

“That’s freaky,” Hayato stated, “and seriously fucking creepy. Have you asked Miss Nana about it?”

“Mum’s still sleeping,” Tsuna replied, splitting his attention between his friend’s image on the screen and his homework. “But I doubt she would have left Reborn alone in my room while I was sleeping. And if she had put the number on my phone, my phone would have been on my desk and not in my pocket where I had left it.”

“Oh man…” Hayato groaned as he ate a slice of pizza. “And you’re saying you have no idea why the guy is doing this?”

“None whatsoever. I’ve spoken to him maybe three times, and every time ended in me yelling at him.”

“Maybe he’s a masochist,” said Hayato, reading something on his computer screen. “Hey Tsuna, how many roses did you say he gave you?”

“Fifteen orange roses. Why?”

“According to this website, orange roses means passionate desire, pure enthusiasm and fascination. It’s also an excellent choice for a new relationship that you wish to pursue further, which is another point in favour of this guy’s creepiness. Also, fifteen roses mean ‘I’m truly sorry. Please forgive me’. Did something happen between you and him specifically?”

Tsuna hesitated before giving his pen pal a succinct version of his confession to Kyoko and the subsequent fall out. “I guess he was apologising for teasing me, which is weird…” ‘And just makes my reaction seem even stupider,’ he thought.

“You know,” began the Italian casually, “you look really pale today, Tsuna. And you have terrible bags under your eyes.”

Tsuna bit his lip but carried on doing his work. “I overslept is all.”

“Tsuna, you don’t need to lie to me. We started talking to each other for this very reason, remember?”

Tsuna didn’t reply.

“I had a bad moment this week,” Hayato continued undeterred. “My, uh, sister has been, well, mothering me all the time for some reason. I think it’s because I’ve been avoiding her for so long. And she keeps trying to feed me her food, which should be classified as a biohazard. I know she’s my half-sister and that she means well, but I was sick of seeing her. She keeps trying to treat me like family when I’m so obviously not a part of it and she doesn’t get what I’m going through, you know? All she ends up doing is shoving in my face all of things I’m trying to get over. So yesterday I snapped at her and accused her of trying to kill me like she did my mother.”

“Hayato…”

“I know, I know, I shouldn’t blame her. Hell, it was my father in the first place.”

“You don’t know that,” Tsuna protested but this was an argument he had never won with Hayato.

“I didn’t even stop there. I just started yelling at her about everything and the next thing I knew I was being forced into my room and I was banned from seeing her. Apparently she was inconsolable.” Hayato looked ashamed. “I meant most of what I said, but I never meant to treat her like that. It isn’t her fault she’s related to that scumbag we call a father, or that she is an idiot.”

“Did you apologise?”

Hayato grimaced.

“Guess not.”

Tsuna remembered when he and Hayato were first introduced. His therapist had thought having a penpal going through similar things as him would do him good, especially since he only had one friend. At the time, he had dreaded the correspondence even as he hoped for the best. What he had gotten was a proud angry Italian who swore a lot and obviously didn’t want to write to Tsuna.

The first few letters were the worst but things changed after Hayato was admitted to the hospital. He was civil but depressed, something Tsuna related to, and they had become fast friends until they eventually abandoned letters and emails for Skype and instant messaging.

If there was anyone who he could talk to, it was Hayato.

“I tried really hard, Hayato,” Tsuna finally said, his voice thick. “I did everything Byakuran told me to – all the breathing exercises, all the anger-relieving exercises and it helped. I thought about you and Haru and mum and how much you guys meant to me. I thought I could deal with their taunts if I just focused on you guys, but when Reborn gave me that disc…” His breaths came faster.

“Take your time, Tsuna.”

“Why would he do that?” Tsuna said, his emotions welling. “I don’t even know the guy and he pretends to be nice only to mock me? At least with the people in my class, I get it: I’m useless Tsuna; I can’t do anything right—”

“Tsuna-”

 “I barely pass my classes; my mother’s a single parent; I suck at sports; I don’t have friends; I’m a disgrace; I bring the name of the whole class down. _They_ have reason to hate me.”

“Tsuna, that’s not-”

“It’s okay, because it’s personal. They know what I’m like. But for a complete stranger to treat me like I’m nothing? Someone who doesn’t know or give two shits about me decided to make my life hell for no reason other than entertainment. How the hell am I supposed to deal with that?”

“Tsuna-”

“I thought I could take anything my classmates could throw at me, but I didn’t think about the rest of the jerks in my school. So I – I –” He took a shaky breath. “I cut myself. A lot. And it felt good.” Tsuna choked. “It felt so good, Hayato.” He covered his face with his hand as tears rose. “I didn’t want to do it but then I did.” His shoulders shook as he choked out, “I almost didn’t stop.”

“Oh, Tsuna…” Hayato sounded like he was crying too, but Tsuna couldn’t see through his own pain. “Tsuna, none of that is true. You’re an amazing person.”

Tsuna laughed bitterly.

“You are my only friend and I’m sorry I couldn’t be enough for you to forgo the pain.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I was weak.”

“You were strong,” Hayato said firmly. “You keep me strong. Talking with you helps so much. I wish I could help you in the same way. Hell, I just wish I could hug you right now.”

“I think I need a hug.” Tsuna smiled, brushing away some of his tears. “And you do help. You’re the only one who understands. It was just a bad day.”

They were silent for a while, both dealing with their hurt.

“At least the guy apologised,” Hayato finally said, rubbing his eyes.

“Fat lot of good that does me. Wow, I have roses while my mother cried because of me.”

“Give her the roses. Tell her you’re sorry. I’ll tell Bianchi I’m sorry too. We can do better, Tsuna.”

“Yeah,” Tsuna agreed, sniffling. “Thanks, Hayato.”

“For what? I didn’t do anything.”

“You were here. Thank you.”

“You should talk to Byakuran,” Hayato encouraged. “It would make your mother happy.”

Tsuna grimaced at the thought of talking to his therapist. Byakuran was nice, but he was invasive.

“You can talk to him over the phone. He’s a professional, Tsuna.”

‘And I need all the help I can get,’ Tsuna thought. He cleared his throat. “Did you see the shots for the new _Avengers_?”

Hayato allowed the evasion and the topic was dropped for the night.

* * *

“Hmm, I’ll allow you to put it off until the weekend, but no further. We need to talk about this properly,” Byakuran said, squeezing a marshmallow as he spoke.

“Okay. Thanks Byakuran.”

“And I’m really proud that you spoke to Hayato-kun about this. You’re doing well, Tsuna, even if you had a setback.”

“Thank you,” Tsuna replied, shouldering his backpack. “I have school, so…”

“Have a good day and feel free to call me whenever and for whatever reason at all. Could you put your mother on the phone?”

Tsuna twisted his face, but handed the receiver to his mother who was still humming in delight over the roses.

“See you later, Tsu-kun!” she said, smiling as she took the phone.

Tsuna waved back and hurried out the house, not wanting to hear his mother giggle over his therapist.

He was only slightly surprised to see Haru waiting for him at the corner of the street. They exchanged the usual pleasantries, before Tsuna reassured Haru he was fine. He even promised to eat cake with her the next day.

“Have fun at your club!” Tsuna called out as they parted ways. Haru made a face before waving him off with a smile.

It was a good start to a weird day.

Not only was Hibari not there to deliver his daily thwacking, everywhere Tsuna went he was followed by whispers and scared looks, something Tsuna had never experienced before.  A quarter of the class was missing, which the teacher claimed was due to their admittance to the hospital but for some reason he kept glancing furtively at Tsuna during this explanation.

Well, it was strange that most of the people missing were Tsuna’s bullies, but maybe they had just picked the wrong person to fight with or something? That was usually the case with delinquents, after all.

The crowning event of the day was when Kyoko approached him before lunch and apologised to him in front of everyone for what had happened yesterday.

“I didn’t mean for those boys to read the letter out loud, or for them to tease you about it,” Kyoko explained while Tsuna gaped at her. “I don’t think I could date you now, but maybe we could get to know each other better?”

 “Umm…” Tsuna blinked. ‘I should reject her.’ “That sounds…” he began. ‘Like a terrible idea. Why would I be interested in you after everything that’s happened?’ “Reasonable.” ‘What am I saying?’ “I’d like a chance to get to know you too.”

Kyoko smiled at him.

‘Crushes are fearsome things,’ Tsuna thought despairingly.

* * *

**Message sent. 11:34**

**Receiver: Young Master**

Target K has apologised to the Target T. K also expressed interest in T.

…

**Message received. 11:35**

**Sender: Young Master**

Why? I did not include that in her instructions.

…

**Message sent. 11:35**

**Receiver: Young Master**

Apparently K has a backbone. Shall I remove it?

…

**Message received. 11:35**

**Sender: Young Master**

No, it’s fine. She has no chance.

…

**Message sent. 8:34**

**Receiver: Young Master**

As young master wishes.

* * *

Bermuda handed his phone back to Jager. That was one issue taken care of.

“Bermuda, we need to talk.”

Bermuda stared at the giant frog head that had stuck its head into his limousine. “Young man,” he said, “I’m afraid that while I am in the prime of my life, I am still far too old for you.”

The frog head popped out of the limo and was removed to reveal green locks and a slim face that looked bored. “Excuse me?”

“I understand that at this stage of your life,” Bermuda explained, “you wish to explore your sexuality but I believe it would be better if your first time did not constitute a sexual offence. I’m flattered by your attentions but must decline your advances.”

An envelope was shoved into Bermuda’s face. “Like hell I’d be interested in you. You have the weirdest face I’ve ever seen.”

Bermuda narrowed his eyes, recognising the seal on the letter. “I think it best if you were to come inside.” He opened the door of the limo.

“Hell no!” Fran replied, putting on his frog head again. “There’s no way I’m getting in a car with you after that little speech. I have classes to get to, Mr Hentai. Try not to get arrested for paedophilia!”

The strange boy walked off, leaving Bermuda staring after him.

“Bermuda-sama?” Jager glanced at his partner whose grip on the letter was a step away from reducing it to a crumpled mess.

“Take us home,” Bermuda said, reaching into his sleeve to pull out a long chain that he snapped taut. “And prepare yourself.”

“It will be my pleasure, Bermuda-sama.”

* * *

Tsuna returned Kyoko’s smile. “Maybe we can eat lunch together sometime?”

“I’d like that,” Kyoko replied.

(“She has to say that,” someone whispered.

“She doesn’t want to end up like the rest.”

“Do you really think Dame-Tsuna-?”

“Shh! He’s looking this way!”)

Tsuna turned his gaze away from the gossip-mongers. What were they trying to imply? He wouldn’t threaten Kyoko!

“Oh, and one more thing,” Kyoko recalled his attention. “Reborn said to ask whether you liked the flowers.” She handed him a single orange rose and walked away.

(“Did she just give Dame-Tsuna a rose?” someone exclaimed.)

The stem snapped in Tsuna’s hand.

 


	6. Crazy Little Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fon is a spazz and Tsuna confronts Reborn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's some important info for you guys and note that the details for the omake contest I was talking about are at the end of the chapter.
> 
> Reborn: Okay, let's get something out the way now, because I thought I was pretty clear but apparently not. Reborn is not a hitman. He is not a teacher. He's just a student at Namimori High, in his final year of high school and he comes from a rich family that we will eventually get to. The people beaten up in the previous chapter were Tsuna's bullies. They ruined his reconciliation with Tsuna so he made them pay. That's it.
> 
> Chapter length: I write usually about 2000-3000 words per chapter, but it really depends on how long it takes me to get to the end scene that I want. Longer chapters will take me waaaay longer to update.
> 
> Romance Dawn fans: I'm so sorry for not updating. I'm just really stuck on the next chapter.
> 
> General: If you guys are confused about something in this story, PM me or mention it in your review and I'll get back to you. I normally only reply to reviews and messages when I'm done with the next chapter, so I'm sorry for getting back to you guys so late. Also, if you get a review reply from me, you should then know that the next chapter will be up soon. As always, if you guys see an error, please let me know :)
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for all the hits, subscriptions and bookmarks! Special shout-out to love_michiyuki (spiel), Barbie74 and Mythplaced_Logic for the kudos!
> 
> Prepare thyself for a cliche shoujo manga scene! Well, sort of.

 

"Hey, Verde…"

"Ngh," was Verde's unintelligible reply.

"What does it take for herbivores to become carnivores?"

Verde lifted his head drowsily to stare at Fon who was flipping through a science book while frowning. He was studiously avoiding Verde's eyes, which could only mean he was serious and embarrassed. Verde didn't care to know the reason.

"It's a matter of natural selection," Verde finally said, laying his head down on his arms. His eyes peeked up at his friend like those of a submerged crocodile. "More specifically, it would be decided through evolution. The entire physiology of an animal evolves or adapts over time to best suit their abilities and environment in order to ensure their survival."

"So if the animal is always surrounded by predators, it will eventually become one as well?"

"I didn't say that, though it's not impossible. More likely, the animal will learn evasive tactics in order to outsmart their predators."

"What happens if you take away the predators in that case?"

"Population increase," said Verde, shutting his eyes again. "Less predators means less kills, and more opportunities for mating."

Fon dropped the book. "So if I get rid of Viper's bullying, we can finally be together?" He grabbed Verde's arms and lifted him in a swift hug. "Thanks, Ver! You're the best!"

"Wait, Fon!" Verde yelled after his departing friend, earning disapproving looks from the rest of the library's occupants. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Humans may be mammals, but the psyche is completely different, imbecile."

"So that's the infamous Fon, huh?" someone asked, sitting next to him. Verde blinked at the outrageously purple hair the newcomer sported, as well as his multiple piercings and make-up that screamed emo.

"You know Fon?" asked Verde, subtly edging away from the stranger who noted it with a frown.

"Forget it." The newcomer left abruptly.

"Why is the library always filled with weirdoes?" Verde muttered, laying his head back down. He should not have stayed awake so late chatting with the-immortal-skull.

"Did your latest experiment blow up on you?" Reborn asked cheerfully as he sat down next to Verde.

"I'll have you know my failure rate is only about 10%," Verde shot back.

"I guess you need to try harder."

"I could say the same about your fish."

"That's a good nickname for him, actually," Reborn mused.

Verde glared at him. "You're way too happy. Whatever you're high on, share it."

"Unfortunately, it requires you to beat up several punks and woo a tuna."

Verde wrinkled his nose and contemplated measuring Reborn's internal biochemical states to produce an appropriate drug, but decided it was too much work. "Do some work on our project."

"Where's Fon?"

"Gone to ruin his love life."

"The usual state of affairs then," Reborn flipped through a book Verde had picked out earlier. "I'll start the research if you get us lunch."

Verde sighed, reluctantly rising and stealing Reborn's wallet before heading to the cafeteria. He spotted the purplette emo kid reading Hamlet on the way, and witnessed two acts of violence committed by the Disciplinary Committee before he had to dodge several chairs that crashed through the window of the Reception Room. He noticed the Midori High Disciplinary Head shooting BB bullets at his silver-haired subordinate, who studiously ignored them, so Verde changed his route to avoid possibly ending up in the line of fire.

He was almost at the cafeteria when he was pulled aside by the object of Reborn's affections.

Tsunayoshi's eyes were narrowed as he smiled at Verde, causing a shiver of fear to run through the greenette's spine. Verde didn't hesitate to spill Reborn's location when the brunette politely asked for it and only breathed freely when Tsunayoshi was out of sight.

Maybe there was something more to Reborn's fascination with the kid after all.

* * *

Reborn's pen scratched across a page, meaningless scribbles writing themselves as the writer worked on autopilot. A reference book lay open beside him, the pages lifting slightly in the breeze blowing through the curtained window. A sigh slipped through his lips. Life was too often this boring.

His eyes turned to his phone, tempting him away from the soul-destroying banality of work. His pen paused, then started moving furiously. 'Do not think of teasing the tuna' became his new internal mantra, since 'I need to get a good mark' was too easy to attain.

He heard the footfalls that approached, but didn't bother to look up. He wasn't interested in hearing another love confession, nor in dealing with giggly flirting. Once he finished his schoolwork, he was going on a fishing trip to reel in the smallest fry he had ever been interested in.

On the other hand, when the footsteps stopped, Reborn couldn't help but begin cataloguing their faults. Whoever it was that had come to him, they seriously needed to get fit. Who made a love confession while panting as if they had run a marathon? Did they know nothing about attraction? They were breathing so loudly Reborn nearly snapped, but he held himself back. He was a gentleman, if nothing else.

"I'm busy right now. Please leave," he said, concentrating on his work.

"Too bad," was the reply after the stranger had gotten his breath under control.

"I'm not gay," Reborn growled, dropping his politeness once he realised it was one of  _those_.

"I never said you were."

A rose was slammed on top of his books. Reborn blinked at the broken stem, slowly recognising the petals. His eyes followed the lightly tanned hand up to caramel eyes. "Hey, Tsunayoshi-kun."

"Explain."

Shit, shit,  _shit_.

"I didn't mean to be rude," Reborn began, but was cut off.

"So you just break into people's houses and invade their privacy  _politely_?" Tsuna asked incredulously. "You send them coded messages in flowers, even though they're guys and you say you're not gay, because you want to be  _nice_?"

"So you got my message then?" Reborn smirked, mentally ticking 'the language of flowers' of his list labelled: 'Things Tsunayoshi Likes'.

Was it just Reborn's imagination, or did the first year just project a murderous aura?

"Can you just answer the question, please?" the brunette said between gritted teeth.

"You interest me," Reborn explained slowly, "and I wanted to get to know you more. To be your friend. To apologise for unintentionally hurting your feelings." This wasn't how Reborn had imagined this conversation going, but he enjoyed impromptu. "That was why I bought you the game." He placed his hand on Tsuna's, which twitched in response. "I had no idea of the ordeal you went through that day. I'm a gamer, so games are what I get people as presents. I chose that title only because it came highly recommended. Had I known, I would have gotten you something else. I still have it and you can tell me what you'd prefer instead so I can exchange it."

It was surprisingly easy to be sincere if one actually felt contrite. Reborn would definitely keep that in mind in the future.

"You were so upset afterwards, that I just wanted to show you that someone could be sincere. I didn't mean to drive the nail in. I wanted to remove it completely. By sending you these flowers, I just wanted to show you that I would really like a fresh start, to get to know you without the misunderstandings and the insults I unwittingly delivered." Reborn did his best to look meek as he smiled at his prey. "If you give me another chance, I swear you won't regret it."

Tsunayoshi turned his gaze downwards, hiding his eyes from Reborn's view. He seemed to be looking at their hands resting upon one another.

"Why me?" Tsunayoshi finally asked. "I'm below average. What makes me so interesting?"

Well, damn. How was he going to answer this? Reborn's mind filtered through hundreds of possible answers, trying to find the one that would best suit his needs. A random thought took centre-stage: if this was an otome game, Tsuna would be the innocent maiden. Reborn knew from experience that whenever he tried to play it cool with those types, they always ran away. Fon did best with them, but what was his method again?

"Win through honesty of heart!" Fon had declared the other night, had he not? Well, here went something.

"Honestly, I don't know," Reborn said, immediately noticing the brunette's deflation. "You're not what I expected from…" How does politely call a person a mouse? "Well, you're just not what I expected. You're not afraid to speak your mind and I can never predict your reactions. And the more I find out about you, the more interested I am."

Fuck, Fon had better have been right.

"So, you just want to get to know me better?" Tsunayoshi said after a pause.

"Yes."

"And you sincerely want to apologise?"

"Yes."

"Then why haven't you?"

"Oh." See? This is why he was so deeply invested. Unpredictable did not even begin to describe the fabric from which Tsunayoshi was made. "I'm so sorry, Tsunayoshi-kun."

"I accept your apology. And don't worry about the game. It was wrong of me to reject it because of an assumption made on my part. I will gladly accept it as is."

Humble little thing, and so polite too.

"I just have one question." Tsunayoshi straightened and looked Reborn firmly in the eye as he asked, "How do you know Kyoko?"

"I don't," Reborn replied cautiously. "I've only spoken to her once."

"After which, she apologised to me and gave me a rose."

"I asked her to give it to you after we talked."

Tsunayoshi seemed to be gauging his sincerity. Luckily, everything Reborn had said was true.

"And what did you talk about?"

"You."

"What about me?"

"What are you implying?" Reborn switched tactics.

"Why aren't you answering my question?" Tsunayoshi countered. "Did you force her to apologise to me?" His eyes reflected the hurt tone that stained his question.

Fuck Fon. This was no time for truth.

"Hey," Reborn stood up, releasing Tsuna's hand which then withdrew to its owner's chest, "I would never do that." Lie. "Whatever she did, she did because she wanted to." Prevarication. He didn't need to mention that she wanted to do it to save her own skin. He placed his hands on Tsuna's shoulders. "All I did, was dispel some of her misconceptions about you." Half-lie? "You're an amazing person, Tsunayoshi-kun, and I tried to explain that to her. The rose was for her to give to you if she decided that you deserved better than that cold rejection she gave you." Lie.

"You know nothing about me," the brunette whispered. "Why would you go to all that trouble?"

"Because you're worth it," Reborn said as sincerely as he could. This, at least, was not a lie. "I may not know you well, but everybody deserves better than the way you were treated. And like I said before, I want to get to know you, if you will let me."

Tsunayoshi's resolve seemed to be wavering. "Were you the one that hurt my classmates?"

Lie like his life depended on it.

"I heard there were a couple of underclassmen that were hospitalised recently," Reborn hedged. "Were they your classmates?"

"Yes."

"I have heard rumours of what happened to them, but nothing more." That was technically true.

And Tsunayoshi seemed to buy it. "Okay." He wet his lips unintentionally. "I'm sorry for accusing you."

What an innocent lamb.

"I don't think I'll be very interesting to get to know," Tsunayoshi continued, "but I wouldn't mind being your friend."

"Thank you, Tsunayoshi-kun." Reborn smiled at the brunette.

"You're welcome," Tsunayoshi replied. "And Tsunayoshi-kun is too formal. Just call me Tsuna." He coupled his words with a smile.

_Ba Dump._

Reborn had never seen such a kind smile before.

_Ba-Dump._

It was a small smile, offered shyly.

_Ba-dump._

Tsunayoshi seemed to pull into himself when he smiled, as if afraid of Reborn's reaction.

_Ba-dump. Ba-dump._

The curtains fluttered, spilling light over the two. Reborn became acutely aware that he was still holding Tsunayoshi's shoulders.

_Badump. Badump. Badump._

The wind ruffled Tsunayoshi's hair lightly. The sunlight highlighted the dust that swirled through the air from the musty bookshelves.

_Badumpbadump._

Tsunayoshi's eyes were such a beautiful shade of caramel.

_Badumpbadumpbadump._

"Reborn-san?" asked Tsunayoshi, peering up questioningly.

_Badumpbadumpbadumpbadump._

All he had to do was bend slightly. It was such a small movement forward that Reborn couldn't resist.

_Badumpbadumpdumpbadump._

His lips were dry when he kissed Tsuna for the first time.

 

* * *

  
**Omake Contest:**

**What does the title of this chapter refer to? Hint: it's to do with music.**

**The first three answers I get that are right will get an omake each of their choice, with any character(s) already in the story. The first three people who can explain to me the pun in the chapter title will be able to choose characters that aren't in this story for their omake, if they want. More may be awarded if I get responses on FFN and here.**

**Please enter! Last time was so much fun and even if you're wrong, at least you tried! And you get two tries! I'll even give you an honorable mention for playing ^u^**

**By the way, most of these omake will probably be in a separate story (My Sempai spin-offs or something) if that's okay with you guys :)**


	7. Nice Guys Finish Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No more Mr Nice Reborn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the hits and bookmarks! Special shout-out to zafiro, Mangal2012, yuchanx3, lady_cosmos, Anime_a_Vengers, Berniekimkim, IzZARrE_ThE_BIzzArRe, love_michiyuki (spiel), Barbie74 and all the guests for their kudos. An even bigger thank you to LazyCoffee and love_michiyuki for their comments!
> 
>  
> 
> Omake contest:
> 
> Congratulations to CalmCat, Antigone1Evenstar, Hweianime (second time!), LazyCoffee (second time!) and love_michiyuki for winning the contest and to scarlet white rose for her creative answer that also won her a prize! The answer was the Queen song “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and the pun was that it could refer to love or to Tsuna, who is both small and crazy. I will be posting their omake/ficlets in a separate story called “The Many Sides of My Sempai’s Creepiness” sometime soon, so please check it out when I do.
> 
> This week, it’s a bit more complicated. Verde and Fon’s description of Reborn’s personality is reminiscent of a character from a show mentioned in a previous chapter. Identify the show, the character and who talked about the show and you win! Please do try :) It’s not half as complex as I made it sound.

He first registered warmth, gently drawing him in. Tsuna’s lips were soft, almost too soft, and had parted slightly with surprise. Reborn didn’t take the invitation. He was too preoccupied with soft and warm, soft and warm, thus thoughts of deepening the kiss didn’t even register. His left arm had slipped around Tsuna’s waist, bringing him closer to Reborn, while his right hand cupped Tsuna’s nape.

Had hair even been this soft and fluffy? Puffy strands brushed against his knuckles.

Had a single kiss ever made him hunger this much for more? His teeth came into play, dragging against Tsuna’s bottom lip. He tasted vanilla against the velvet skin, and found it fitting.

His left arm slowly slid downwards, wanting more from the encounter. Was there nothing on this body that was hard? It was getting difficult to not see Tsuna as a girl. It was even more difficult to not push Tsuna against the nearest horizontal surface and have his way with him as easily as he had had with his previous girlfriends.

A large gust of wind tore through the library. Reborn briefly registered Tsuna’s scent as shower fresh before one of the heavy billowing curtains smacked into his face. Moment ruined, Reborn broke the kiss to glare at the offensive drape. It was only then that he noticed the palms shoving against his chest.

Tsuna’s lips were red as he cried, “Let go of me!”

In one moment, Reborn’s actions caught up with him. He released Tsuna in a daze, barely noticing as his underclassman ran off. He definitely didn’t see the girl who had dropped her books in surprise from the scene she had seen, nor did he hear the whispers that rose behind a bookshelf. 

Just one thought dominated his mind. What the hell had he done?

* * *

 

“Fon-san, you can’t-!”

“Kyoya, I need you!” Fon spoke over Kusakabe as he rushed into the Reception Room. His enthusiasm was put on hold as his older brother urges overwhelmed him. “Dino-san, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” he growled, glaring at the blonde pinning Kyoya to the couch.

“This is not what it looks like!” Dino said immediately, having been a victim of Fon’s ire before (the blonde never learnt to stay away from Kyoya like he should). “I was just trying to feed – I mean – we were just having lunch! Right, Kyoya?”

Kyoya swept the blonde from his lap to the floor, revealing that he indeed had a bento in his hand. “I can handle myself,” he said to his brother, taking a slice of meat from the box.

“No, Kyoya, you need to eat this one!” Dino objected, grabbing Kyoya’s hand and pushing a different bento into it.

“I think you need to leave,” Fon said, grabbing the blonde none-too-gently.

“I’m here for a meeting!” Dino said. “A lunch meeting.”

“Let the herbivore be,” Kyoya said, setting aside his bento. “If I wanted him gone, he would be.”

“I know it looks weird, but Kyoya was just messing around. He knows I told him I’d bring lunch to make up for Xanxus.”

“Home-made?” Fon asked, eying the hamburger steak resting innocently in the container.

“Umm…yes?”

“Shall we talk?” Kyoya said, pulling his brother away from Dino and out the door. “Privately, of course.” The door of a different room shut behind the siblings. “What do you want?”

“What was Dino doing to you?” Fon crossed his arms against his chest.

“We were having lunch. The bronco was doing nothing inappropriate.”

“So he just happened to crawl into your lap, push you against the couch and lean over you like that while you pushed him away? You’re strong, Kyoya, but so is he.”

“The bronco never understands boundaries when he’s enthusiastic.”

“You’re not exactly proving his worth here.”

Kyoya sighed and leaned against the wall. “Tell me what you want or I will leave.”

Fon’s lips contorted in frustration and disgust but he took his brother’s word, this time. Instead, he explained his need for the names of Viper’s bullies and his plan to deal with them. Kyoya was surprisingly unimpressed.

“If bullying could so easily be eradicated, do you think I would not have done so? It disrupts the peace of Namimori, yet nothing I can do will end it.”

“No offence,” Fon said, “but I have a more positive influence among the students. I’m also a well-respected senior.”

Obviously, Kyoya took offence. “You know nothing about these people. If you favour Viper, the herbivores will hate her more. Her belongings will be trashed. Herbivores will whisper behind her back, spreading lies and rumours, and anonymously sending her hate mail.”

“I can help-!”

“You can only hinder and make things worse, Fon.” Kyoya pulled out his vibrating phone, and noticed a new message from Ulupong.

_Meeting now in the usual place. You busy?_

He quickly typed out a reply and pressed send.

_Be there in a moment._

“Viper doesn’t want a protector,” Kyoya continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted, pushing off the wall and walking towards the door. “If she did, another would have had her a long time ago.” He glanced back with a strange glint in his eyes. “Others have been interested in her too.”

Kyoya walked out and instructed his deputy to send Dino off before heading down the stairs. He noticed a head of purple bouncing ahead of him and internally smiled.

The day was significantly brighter.

* * *

Haru desperately tried to get out of her situation, but to no avail. Tsuna had some dangerous news for her, something so rare that Haru was quite willing to ditch class, but the annoying frog won’t leave her alone!

“Why are you bothering Haru?” she asked Fran exasperatedly.

The frog head tilted to the side. “I just wanted to talk to you, Ugly-Face Haru-sempai.”

“We are the same age and in the same class. Haru is not your sempai!” Haru cried, throwing her hands in the air. “And Haru is not ugly!”

“I suppose you’re not as ugly as you could be,” Fran acceded, making Haru bristle.

“Look,” she said, switching tactics, “if you leave Haru alone today, Haru will make you a better frog head.”

“What’s wrong with this one?”

Haru didn’t even know how to respond to that.

“Well,” Fran continued, “if it’s from Haru Ugly-Face’s hand, it is sure to be better than what I have. I accept.” He walked away abruptly.

Haru blinked and on her way to meet Tsuna at his house, she wondered whether she had been complimented by the strange transfer student and why.

“Tsuna!” Haru waved as she entered the yard. “What’s up?”

Standing up, Tsuna grabbed her hand and dragged her to his room. She noticed that the Skype screen was on, and a sleepy Hayato was rubbing his eyes in it. “Do you ever sleep?” she asked him incredulously.

Hayato made an inarticulate noise as he slumped over a pillow. Tsuna apologised for waking him, but that only elicited a dismissive groan. Taking a sandwich from a plate Tsuna offered her, Haru sat on the bed and demanding to know what had happened.

“I’ve had the strangest day,” Tsuna said despondently, curling up beside her. Hayato exchanged a look with Haru, who then hugged Tsuna close. “Kyoko-chan apologised for rejecting me and asked to be my friend.”

“That’s good, right?” Hayato mumbled, silently promising to fill Haru in later.

“I don’t know. She gave me a rose.”

“How romantic!” Haru injected.

“It was from Reborn.”

Hayato sat up but it was Haru who spoke. “Reborn as in Reborn Kawahira, the hottest senior in your school?” Upon Tsuna’s agreement, she grabbed him by the shoulders. “When did that happen? How did that happen? Why did it happen?”

“I got into a couple of arguments with him, but he was nearly always at fault! Today he apologised and said wanted to be my friend.”

“That’s great!” chorused both his friends. Haru wondered how much she had missed out on in just a few days.

“But then…” Tsuna continued.

“But then?” Haru prompted.

“But then…” Tsuna touched his lips. “Then he kissed me.”

* * *

“You kissed him?” Verde asked him incredulously.

“Yes.”

“Did you plan on kissing him?” Fon said.

“No.”

“Did he like you kissing him?” Verde stared at Reborn in fascination.

“No.”

“Do you know that the whole school is talking about your kiss?” Fon held up his phone, showing a picture of Reborn kissing Tsuna in the library. Well, Reborn could be seen. Tsuna was just some fluffed up hair Reborn was holding.

“I don’t care.”

“Did you like kissing him?” Verde looked vaguely awkward.

“…Yes.” Reborn sank lower in his seat. “More than I ever have before.”

His friends exchanged looks as Bermuda put some snacks down on the table. The trio had decided to work on their project at Reborn’s house but with both Fon and Reborn being distracted, the work had come to a standstill. Verde had been hoping for a continuation after lunch, but knowing Reborn and his melodrama, he doubted anything productive would happen that day.

Fon put aside his worries about Kyoya, Viper and the upcoming auditions for the school play. Reborn needed help, and that was always amusing. Not that he would ever consider using one of his best friends as a distraction from his own problems, of course not! “So, when did you become gay? Seriously this time.”

“I’m not!” Reborn insisted.

“Bi, then?” Verde bit into a cookie.

“You know, it didn’t feel like I was kissing a guy when I kissed him. It was just…” Reborn waved his hand vaguely.

“So maybe you’re bi-curious.” Verde made a note on a piece of paper.

“More like confused.”

“You’ve always been bad at recognising what you want from a situation,” Fon observed. “Especially if the situation has held your interest for a while.”

“No matter how many times you insist upon it, I did not challenge you to a fight every day because I wanted to be your friend. I just really wanted to kick your ass.” Reborn stared deadpan at Fon, who rolled his eyes.

“I suppose you just really wanted to beat Verde and not befriend him either when you issued that challenge to him.”

“Of course.”

“Reborn, you were six and could barely pronounce ‘challenge’.” Verde rubbed his temple. “You attacked me with a pillow even though it was apparent that I was not a physical child.”

“Better than me,” Fon recalled. “The first time he came to the shop, he told me he could drink more tea than me and burned his mouth on the first cup.”

“You guys are not helping,” Reborn growled.

Verde’s smirk was patronising as he said, “We’re only trying to point out to you that you’re stupid at social interactions.”

“It’s probably because of your family that you’re so emotionally, socially and psychologically constipated.” Fon patted Reborn’s shoulder with a grin.

“Your lack of social skills and ignorance about society’s norms coupled with your intelligence might almost make you borderline sociopathic!”

“Bermuda,” Reborn called for his butler, “can you see these two associates of mine to the door?”

“Don’t be like that!” Fon threw his arm around Reborn in a show of comradery. “You’re know we’re only doing this because we care.”

“Fon may be, but I’m just in it for the laughs,” Verde said.

“I’m so glad that my identity crisis is a source of amusement for you two.” Despite his annoyed tone, he waved away Bermuda when he entered the dining room.

The friends turned serious.

“Reborn, there’s nothing wrong with liking this boy,” Verde reiterated.

Fon added, “Maybe all along you’ve wanted to date him and just didn’t realise it.”

Reborn sighed and took a sip from his glass of juice. When he put down the orange drink again, he asked, “Do you remember that time Verde dared me to hook up with a college girl?”

“You mean when we are at the beach and you charmed the pants right off of her?” Verde said sourly. “It took you less than an hour to get lucky in the bathroom with her.”

“Luck had nothing to do with it.” Reborn tapped his finger against the glass table. “I knew exactly what to say to get her to like me and then to sleep with me. It’s pretty easy, actually. That’s what I thought this interest I had in Tsuna was about. It was just a challenge, because he didn’t like me straight off the bat. Playing those games, getting rid of his bullies, making that girl apologise and even speaking to him, it was all just to manipulate him into liking me.”

“And it worked, until you blew it with the kiss,” Verde said neutrally.

“That’s just it. It worked. All I had to do was say the right things and it was easy. I expected to lose interest after that, but instead I…” He sighed. “I kissed him. Why would I, when it turned out to be so easy to play my cards right with him?”

“There must be something else you like about him then.” Fon smiled. “Do you think Viper was the sort of person I imagined myself with the first time I met her? I didn’t even realise I was draw to her initially. I just thought she was nice. It was only later that I realised how much I liked her, and that maybe I had liked her from the beginning but just didn’t realise it.”

“Tsuna isn’t like that. My first impression was that he was a timid, naïve fool. He is below average intelligence-wise, his lack of fitness is appalling and he has no presence whatsoever.”

“I wouldn’t say that…” Seeing Reborn and Fon’s questioning looks, Verde elaborated. “I ran into him earlier when he was looking for Reborn. He can be quite forceful when he wants to be.”

Reborn considered that. “That’s true. He shows his spine at the strangest of moments.”

“Maybe that’s what you like!” Fon seized on the knowledge. “He’s contradictory and unpredictable, even if he is easy to fool.”

“So he’s something like the ultimate challenge for me?” Reborn asked. “Or just a challenge that I’m not used to.”

“Or maybe,” Verde interrupted, “you just find that contradiction and unpredictability to be hot, especially coupled with Tsuna’s somewhat androgynous features.”  

“So I want to sleep with him?”

“I don’t know. Do you?” Verde stole another cookie from the plate.

Reborn entertained the thought for a moment. It was unsurprisingly easy to imagine, since he had briefly wanted to do it in the library anyway. And yet the moment he realised that Tsuna was a boy and (probably) had all the physical features that came with the male gender… “I don’t think I’m ready for that,” he said, making a face and washing the thought down with more juice. He would have preferred something stronger, but Bermuda was ‘monitoring his caffeine intake’ or some other bullshit excuse like that.

“Then date him,” Fon said simply.

“I don’t date.”

“You don’t do a lot of things around Tsuna that you normally do anyway,” Verde pointed out.

“You should probably stop manipulating him too.” Fon ignored Reborn’s rolling eyes. “If you want to find out what you really want from him, then you should be your real self.” He indicated himself and Verde as he said, “That’s how we became friends, after all.”

“For the last time, that’s not how it went!”

* * *

It was nearing midnight when something struck Tsuna’s window. Bleary eyes blinked, turning away from the nonsensical homework they were meant to be focusing on. Tsuna wandered over to the window, hearing another small  _crack_ as he opened it.

Reborn Kawahira was standing in his yard.

After blinking several times to make sure his sleep-deprived brain wasn’t hallucinating, Tsuna softly called out, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to talk,” Reborn said, just loud enough to be heard by Tsuna. “Do you mind coming down?”

Tsuna considered ignoring the insane boy, but he really didn’t want to risk Reborn deciding to break into his room as he had done before. Reluctantly, he closed the window and made his way downstairs, tying his robe tightly around him as he did so. He almost wanted to open the lounge window rather than the front door, but figured he could scream loud enough to get the neighbourhood’s attention if need be. He opened the door and tried to look as imposing as possible as he said, “Well?”

Reborn did not seem too impressed, judging by his relaxed posture as he sat on the front porch. “I wanted to apologise for what will hopefully be the last time.”

Tsuna sighed. “Why did you kiss me?”

“I’m not apologising for the kiss,” Reborn said bluntly. “To do so would imply that I regret it, which I don’t.”

Tsuna balled his fists.

“Look,” Reborn pulled his hand out of his bulky jacket pocket, “I didn’t plan on kissing you but it happened and I enjoyed it. Didn’t you?”

“You said you wanted to be my friend!”

“That was probably the only thing I didn’t lie about and it turned out to be false anyway…” Reborn muttered.

Eyes narrowed, Tsuna demanded to know what else Reborn had lied to him about.

“My friends think I want to date you because you’re unpredictable and a little weird,” Reborn said blithely. “I’m not even sure how much I like you, to be honest, but here I am anyway.”

“Are you ignoring me?”

“I’m not a nice person, you know. All of that with the roses, and the gifts and the politeness isn’t really me. Hell, I don’t even apologise to people normally.”

“Answer the damn question!”

“You know how you got mad at me when we first met because of the way I spoke to you? That’s me. I insult people when I talk to them. I’m caustic and mean. I like myself and that’s who I am.”

“I don’t care!”

“But you interested me and I pretended to be what you wanted for the challenge, but I’m done with that. I want to try dating you honestly instead.”

Tsuna was shocked into silence. His lips numbly formed, “What?” but the word would not be voiced.

Reborn propped his chin up as he said, “I know me being myself isn’t ideal but dating me will have its benefits.” He smirked. “I was the one who sent your tormentors to hospital. They deserved it, since I got the bulk of your frustrations that really should have been aimed at them. Oh, and I did threaten the Sasagawa girl. She really isn’t smart, nor is she particularly nice. I have no idea why you like her.”

He stood up and Tsuna automatically took a step back.

“I’m being brutally honest with you this time. It’s not much fun, is it?” Reborn came closer. “If you don’t want to date me right now, that’s fine.” Tsuna’s back hit the doorframe. “I just wanted to declare my intentions tonight. I’ll court you properly from now on and when you’re ready, we can try.” He captured Tsuna’s chin in his hand, tilting it up until they were looking into each other’s eyes. “Was that your first kiss, by the way? You were quite innocent.” 

“Let go of me,” Tsuna managed to say.

Reborn blinked and let go. “Of course, Tsuna -”

A pan smacked against his head and he fell to the floor unconscious. Tsuna stared into the empty space where his sempai had previously been, before slowly turning his head. His mother stood in the open doorway, a large skillet in hand and a bright smile on her face.

“Tsu-kun, what have I told you about talking to strangers?” She looked at him seriously. “Or letting them into the house?”

“Not to do it?” he offered and got a pat on the head for his efforts.

“Exactly! Now let’s call the police and get this pervert taken away.”

Verde and Fon slinked further into the dark bush they were hiding behind upon hearing that announcement.

“No more impromptus for Reborn,” Fon murmured quietly.

“What gave it away?” Verde hissed back. “The fact that he tanked it or the fact that he used the word ‘courting’?”

“We should not have let him drink all that coffee.”

“Oh well.” Verde cracked his neck. “Time to save the day.” He glanced at Fon. “You can go first. It’s not like you need the brain cells.”

Fon made a face as he rose to his feet. The things he did for friendship…


	8. Devil You Don't Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New characters! Skull makes his real appearance! So does a certain blonde ;)  
> Reborn gets mad at his friends and Tsuna feels sad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the hits and subscriptions! Shout out to yokishko, TheSciurusPilot, KyuubinoKitsune and the guests for the kudos!  
> Thank you so much to LazyCoffee and Faery66 for the comments! I love talking to my readers ^_^ 
> 
> Omake contest:  
> I guess the last one was a bit too hard, since only 11jaemin16 tried but congrats again for getting it right! The answer was either Sherlock Holmes from ‘Sherlock’, mentioned in the first chapter by Tsuna, or Nine from 'Zankyou no Terror', mentioned by Verde in Chapter 4. This week’s contest will be a lot easier! Just tell me what the name of the school play that Viper discusses in this chapter is! Hint: it’s written by a female. ALTERNATIVELY, you can explain the title of this chapter. Hint: it’s not a pop culture reference.
> 
> General:  
> Exams are coming up, so updates might be slow/non-existent for a while. This applies to 'Transport Me to a Whole New World' and 'Romance Dawn' as well.  
> 'Sides of My Sempai’s Creepiness' is now up and running! So far I’ve only got one adorable omake up, which is completely Fon x Viper centric. But I’m working on the other six and will update when I can! Also, if I cover something in Sides, then I might refer to it here but I will warn you if that’s the case.

Reborn had thrown away his coffee. It was an unprecedented situation and Bermuda was left at a loss, the coffee pot hanging uselessly in his hand as he surveyed the garbage can overflowing with his master’s highly-prized beans. Was this his master’s way of telling Bermuda to go to hell and take his diet plans with him? Reborn was intolerable without a very specific amount of coffee!

“Perverted Butler-san, I just asked for coffee. It’s not rocket science.”

Bermuda’s eye twitched but it was an automatic reaction rather than him noticing his irritating guest. What was Bermuda supposed to do now? Was Reborn sick? Jager hadn’t reported anything unusual after he had taken Reborn to school this morning.

“I have school to go to, you know. I’ll just let Boss Lady know you’re too busy for me.”

That effectively distracted him. “There is no need for such lies,” Bermuda said stiffly. “What do you require from me?”

“An answer,” Fran replied. Bermuda couldn’t read his blank expression.

“Master Reborn is doing just fine.”

“And yet he has been acting out recently, not to mention the coffee beans.” Fran glanced at the bin and then back at Bermuda.

The butler wished the irritant would hide his face inside his frog head again, instead of using it as an armrest. Bermuda’s strange features had always been a cause of alarm among others, but Fran’s tasteful face coupled with his lacklustre expression was nauseating. “Be that as it may-” Bermuda began.

“Boss Lady just wanted me to remind you that you are employed by the Kawahira family, of which she is the heir.” The threat was clear, even delivered in Fran’s uninspired tones. “You have one month to deal with Reborn’s obsession or we will take care of Dame-Tsuna instead.”

* * *

Reborn officially hated frying pans. He wondered if it had been a coincidence that Tsuna’s mother had answered the door this morning holding one. Either way, with his head still throbbing from the previous night’s bashing and with Mrs Sawada’s latest threats of what she could do to him with her kitchen implements, Reborn was in a decidedly terrible mood. The pan that he found inside his shoe locker blackened his mood further. Verde and Fon didn’t even have the decency to stand still when he tried to hit them with it.

“Class is starting soon,” someone called to the trio as Fon nimbly leapt over a desk and Verde shoved a chair in Reborn’s way.

“Stop dodging!” Reborn snarled, swinging the tiny pan at the greenette’s face.

“Stop swinging!” Verde countered.

“Lucky we bought the egg-sized pan, huh, Verde?” Fon said happily.

Reborn wanted to grab Fon’s flying plait and strangle him with it, but the sound of heavy footsteps approaching had him abruptly returning to his seat. He had enough to worry about without a detention on his record. He could still hear his so-called friends snickering as their teacher began the morning routine. It was fifteen minutes into his maths class when they decided to explain their gift.

…

**Message received.**

**Sender: Stupid Green Frankenstein**

We had to grovel to avoid you getting arrested, not to mention we had to carry you back ourselves! You owe us big. This was just a small revenge on our part.

…

**Message sent.**

**Receiver: Stupid Green Frankenstein**

I said it earlier and I’ll say it again. Why the hell did you guys let me go out in the first place? You know what I’m like when I’ve had too much coffee!

…

**Message received.**

**Sender: Tea-Drinking Monkey**

It was all in good jest. How did the apology go? We had to lie and say you were somewhat mentally retarded just to avoid her calling the police! On that note, do be nice to Tsuna. She would never have let it go if he hadn’t helped convince her.

Oh, and I found out an interesting way for you to hang out with Tsuna! ^u^ All you have to do is make sure I get the main part in the play!

…

**Message sent.**

**Receiver: Tea-Drinking Monkey**

Terrible. I’m pretty sure his mother told me in a roundabout way that she’d bash my balls to pieces if I go near Tsuna again.

I’ll be sure to express my heartfelt gratitude the next time I see him ;)

Fine. I’ll scout the area out beforehand and make sure all the guys know they are to refuse the part if they get it. Now tell me!

…

**Message received.**

**Sender: Stupid Green Frankenstein**

Have you ever had to deal with your hyperactive self? No, so don’t lecture us. It’s like trying to stop a rampaging rhino!

By the way, did you bring your form for the Survival Game? I need to hand it in today.

..

**Message sent.**

**Receiver: Stupid Green Frankenstein**

Well, I do have a big horn.

Yes, so stop lecturing me. You can take it during lunch.

…

**Message received.**

**Sender: Stupid Green Frankenstein.**

You overestimate yourself.

…

**Message sent.**

**Receiver: Stupid Green Frankenstein**

You underestimate me.

…

**Message received.**

**Sender: Tea-Drinking Monkey**

Can you blame her? She found you molesting her only son on her porch in the middle of the night. Frankly, I’m still surprised we made it out alive! :O

You should really take it slow with Tsuna. He looked so freaked out last night…

I accept your terms! So apparently, Tsuna’s mother is looking for a tutor for her son. I saw an application to Tutors for Futures on the kitchen table. I wonder: how good are your disguises?

…

**Message sent.**

**Receiver: Tea-Drinking Monkey**

I did not molest him! We were just talking and I stepped away when he told me to. She overreacted. And don’t worry about Tsuna. I’ll be nice ;)

…You are forgiven for the pan. Don’t tell Verde.

…

**Message received.**

**Sender: Tea-Drinking Monkey**

Still suspicious. I wonder how much of your conversation she heard. You sounded quite deranged, you know.

That sounds so suspicious… but good luck anyway! Try not to get caught again :)

…

“Kawahira, what’s the answer?”

Reborn’s eyes flickered from the teacher staring him down to the blackboard covered in equations. “X equals 1 over sin Q.”

The plump teacher looked disgruntled but Reborn couldn’t care less as he sent a mail to Bermuda informing him of the new plan.

* * *

Viper slammed the door shut behind her and angrily took off her shoes. The plastic bag in her hand was in danger of ripping from her excessive force as she stalked into Skull’s living room. Kyoya and Skull looked up at her entrance. “Don’t be happy, or excited or nice!” she snapped, tossing the bag full of snacks on the floor as she took a seat.

“Somebody’s in a rotten mood,” Skull said, brushing his purple bangs from his face. The television light glinted off his multiple piercings as his lipstick-covered lips pulled upwards in a grin, which didn’t disappear even when Kyoya glared at him for the racket his jewellery made as they slid down his arms. 

Viper slumped over the coffee table, unwilling to say anything.

“I take it Fon got the part?” Kyoya asked mildly.

“Pretty much. I hate life.”

The room was silent except for the soft musings of the television and the crinkling noises of snacks being opened. Kyoya tossed his black school jacket on a nearby chair while Skull surreptitiously moved some half-finished manga panels away from Viper’s hood-covered head before breaking the quiet.

“You know that Verde guy that hangs out with Reborn and Fon?” Viper flinched at the mention of the bane of her existence, but nodded nevertheless. “He’s really cute but rude. I can see why he hasn’t dated anyone.”

“He has though,” Viper muttered. “Some tech genius from Midori High. Big secret. Broke up after six months.”

“Girl or guy?” Skull asked interestedly.

“Guy. He’s had flings with girls before though.”

“You know a lot,” Kyoya mused, offering the tired girl a strawberry milk box.

“He’s a nice guy. Skull, you two would get along.”

Skull scoffed. “He didn’t even want to sit next to me in the library. I hate judgemental people.”

“Was this before or after Kyoya made you take off your piercings?”

“Before.” Skull caressed his earring as if to apologise for betraying it earlier that week.

“Well, there you go.” Kyoya smirked.

“ _Piss off,”_  Skull growled. He got a tonfa against the side of his head for his troubles and a reminder that he was in Japan and should therefore stop speaking English, especially in his annoying British accent. “It’s not annoying!” the sixteen-year-old insisted, but his friends ignored him. “You guys are just jealous.”

“Is he any good at acting?” Kyoya asked.

“He’s good at being charming.” Viper opened pulled an open chips packet toward her. “Never repeat that anywhere.”

“He’s playing King Herod, right? That’s pretty much all he needs to be.” Skull munched on a chip as well.

“He fits his character well,” Kyoya added.

“But he isn’t the jealous type! How is he supposed to sentence me to death if he can’t legitimately pull of feeling betrayed and hurt?”

“For someone who never has anything good to say about Fon,” said Skull, leaning into Viper’s space, “you have an awfully sweet view of the guy.”

Viper was silent, before declaring, “We are done talking about this. You have a deadline to meet.”

Skull rolled his eyes at Kyoya, whose lips twitched in return. Viper began sorting out the papers strewn over the table top, handing out their assigned work. Skull passed her a folder with the corrected storyboards from his editor, which Viper took with a sniff. She hated being told she was wrong.

Being a manga-ka team was hard work.

* * *

“What about this one?”

Tsuna shook his head. “Nope. We have one of those already.”

“This one?”

Tsuna contemplated Haru’s offering, and then snapped a picture of it for Hayato’s approval.

_Mrs Sawada wouldn’t use that._

The text message was enough for them to reject the last of the pans the shop had on display. Haru huffed as they left the shop.

_Why don’t you get her something else instead? Maybe cake or an accessory or something…_

Haru grabbed Tsuna’s phone and replied:  _But she championed Tsuna with a frying pan! We want something to acknowledge that fact!_

Hayato’s reply was swift as Tsuna and Haru grinned at the small screen.  _Get her a Tangled DVD. And it was a skillet, actually._

“Oh, we need to go here!” Haru said suddenly, grabbing Tsuna’s hand and putting his mobile back into his pocket. “Tsuna needs protection!”

Tsuna eyed the weapon store warily. “I wouldn’t know what to do with any of this stuff, Haru.”

“It’s just pepper spray.” Haru waved over a salesperson. “Did the creep approach you today?”

“I used one of the Disciplinary Committee’s hiding holes. The popular kids never know to look there.”

“Guess all of those free lunches for Hibari-san paid off then.” Haru examined the spray cans. “Which one do you want, Tsuna? They’re having a two-for-one special, so it’s on me!”

Tsuna shrugged and messaged Hayato _. Hey, Haru’s buying protection for me and her. What size do you think we should get?_

The reply was instantaneous.  _WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN? Also, how do you not know your own size?_

Tsuna replied with a frown _. What are you talking about?_

_Condoms. What are you talking about?_

Tsuna’s eyes widened. _…Pepper spray._

_Oh :| Get something small so you can keep it on you all the time._

Haru burst out laughing as she read the messages and paid for the small white canisters. She made comments about boys and their dirty minds all the way to the craft shop, some of which Tsuna shared with a disgruntled Hayato.

_So, hey, have you decided what you’re going to do about Reborn? And are you ready for your session tomorrow?_

Tsuna grimaced at the Italian’s message. He really did not want to think of facing either Reborn or Byakuran. As he pondered his reply, he noticed Haru was being pickier than usual with her materials. “Something up?” he asked.

Haru sighed, putting down the green material she had been examining. “There’s this boy…”

“All the world’s troubles wrapped up in three words,” Tsuna said with a smile, putting away his phone.

Haru smiled at him distractedly. “I thought it was ‘I love you’ that ruined the world… anyway, he’s this absolute pest who calls me Ugly Face –”

Tsuna scowled.

“-and the first time we met, he complained about my designs but he always comes to talk to me. He’s beyond weird and he wears this horrible frog head mask –”

Tsuna mouthed ‘frog head mask?’ but Haru was too preoccupied to explain.

“And the other day I promised to make him a better mask. Normally I wouldn’t care, but he kind of maybe complimented me and now I want to make something amazing because it’s the first time a guy has ever taken interest in me like that.” Haru slapped her hands against the desk and look at Tsuna with glimmering eyes. “Am I just wasting my time?”

Tsuna sometimes wished he could see Haru more as a girl and less of a sister, less of the amazing friend that she was to him. It hurt to see her become insecure over a male’s interest. She deserved better. She was smart. She was kind. She was dedicated and passionate and could whip up the world’s tastiest cookie cake in less than twenty minutes. Tsuna wanted to tell her she didn’t need to impress this boy because she was pretty amazing already, but girls were fickle and Haru was his oldest friend.

So instead, he told her what she wanted to hear. It didn’t take much encouragement for Haru to embrace the idea of a romantic interest, and soon she was whizzing around the large store for supplies. Tsuna left her for a moment to go buy his mother some fancy chocolate.

The unanswered message on his phone sat heavily in his pocket but Haru’s brilliant smile was a far larger weight for his heart to carry.

* * *

“Excuse me, is this the admin office?”

Colonello’s head shot up and he almost toppled over from the sight that greeted him. Blue hair tied untidily to the side, purple eyes that burned fiercely and a neat uniform that hinted at a great figure: Colonello was in love and he didn’t even recognise the school badge on her blazer! “Hey,” he said dumbly.

The girl raised an eyebrow and he actually felt her opinion of him drop to the floor. She repeated her question, but someone else answered it. Which was a good thing, since Colonello had been a bit preoccupied with staring at her small mouth painted with the barest of peach lip balm.

“It is. Are you going in or can I?”

“After you, sempai.”

Wait,  _sempai_? Colonello broke free from his stupor in time to see a green-haired boy in a similar yellow blazer to his crush enter the air-conditioned main office of Midori High. The girl followed with nary a glance at Colonello and in the agonising five minutes he waited for her to come back out, he thanked whatever deity that had made him seek out his cousin today.

The door opened, and the tall blonde felt hundreds of witty conversation starters race to his mouth but none were allowed to test the air. The teenage beauty was apologising to someone on the phone and hurried out the building, followed shortly by the greenette who didn’t acknowledge Colonello’s presence either. But Colonello didn’t let that get him down: he had a woman to aim for, and now all he needed was a name!

He walked into the office and greeted his cousin, who barely glanced at him as she shuffled through her paperwork. They exchanged the usual pleasantries and he extended the usual invite to family dinner that she hadn’t taken since she moved to Japan last year following the scandal with her ex-boss. He offered her babysitting skills and she demanded to know what he wanted.

“Damn, Oregano, you don’t have to be so mean,” Colonello muttered but the secretary continued to exude a menacing aura. “Fine. Do you know who that girl was that just came in?”

She tossed a folder at him and returned to her work just as the phone rang. Colonello didn’t mind her rudeness: his cousin had it tough.

The blue folder was marked “Namimori High teams” and the very first page that caught his eye was the one marked “Team Lal”. Colonello was really going to enjoy the upcoming Survival Game.


	9. Growing Pains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsuna meets his new tutor, Colonello joins the contest and Hayato makes plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the hits, bookmarks and subscriptions! Shout out to Hakuran, miliareid, jgood27, DarkMurcielago, Pherazen, ladyvicca, TiniGene, Tengoku, atwistedconundrum, Spade_Storm, Windfeather, Guise_n_Disguise, Anonymous_Pen and LuminaCarina for the kudos :)
> 
> Sorry for the long wait!

Tsuna’s phone tapped out an angry rhythm as he trudged home in the warm afternoon glow. He hated going to see Byakuran, even though he was pretty nice as far as psychiatrists go. The walk home after a session always reminded him that he had failed somehow, that he was costing his mother money and that he needed to get over himself already. Not even Byakuran’s all-knowing eyes, the marshmallows he offered or his comforting words could clear the cold ball in Tsuna’s stomach whenever he left. It had been there after yesterday’s session, it was there today and it would still be there during his appointment next week.

His phone chimed as a reminder popped up, disrupting his discussion with Haru and Hayato. Damn, was it already half three? He was going to be late for his first tutoring session! Swiftly telling them goodbye, he shoved his mobile into his pocket and began running down the street. He had to stop frequently to catch his breath and he was delayed due to an encounter with an angry Chihuahua, but he managed to get to his house just as the clock displayed four.

He really wanted to make a good impression on this tutor. The last two had given up on him in disgust, which Byakuran claimed was the reason his confidence had taken such a plummet last year and why he had developed a bit of a phobia of tests. Tsuna disagreed on the basis that as horrible as his previous tutors had made him feel when they called him No-Good, it was everyone else who used that nickname for him that had truly made him give up. Hell, even his mother had used it until Byakuran had a very loud and angry conversation with her about it!

Tsuna shook his head to rid himself of his depressing thoughts and slapped his cheeks hard. He needed to focus. ‘Make a good impression,’ he instructed himself before opening the door.

“Tsu-kun! Welcome home!” Nana greeted him as he took off his shoes. “Your tutor just got here.” She bent forward and whispered, “He’s so nice! And handsome too!” Tsuna rolled his eyes as he followed her into the kitchen but she didn’t pay attention as she said, “Tsu-kun, this is your new tutor, Boreen-san. Boreen-san, this is my son, Tsuna.”

Boreen was a tall youth in an expensive suit, black tie, yellow shirt and yellow-ribboned fedora. Tsuna could see his own reflection in Boreen’s polished shoes but he was more transfixed by the curly sideburns peeking out of the fedora. They were very familiar, even if the complementing goatee and slim-framed glasses were not.

“Nice to meet you, Tsuna-kun,” Boreen greeted and the baritone confirmed Tsuna’s suspicions.

“Mum, I refuse to be tutored by this fraud!”

“Tsu-kun! That’s very rude!” Nana scolded. “What’s wrong with Boreen-san?”

“He’s Reborn, the crazy guy from the other night!”

“Boreen-san is a university student who tutors high school students for free,” Nana stated. “All he asked from me was snacks while he’s here and he agreed to help you out at least four times a week!”

“And I’m Reborn’s cousin,” Boreen added.

“We don’t judge people by their families, Tsu-kun.”

Tsuna tried to protest more, but his mother just gazed at him sadly until he gave up with a frustrated huff. He stomped upstairs to grab his schoolbag and returned to find ‘Boreen’ drinking tea while his mother set some cake and biscuits on the table. She continued to bustle around the kitchen while Tsuna settled down, and Tsuna realised that she was there to keep an eye on Boreen.

Yet another change brought about by Byakuran.

Ten minutes later, Tsuna was still convinced that Boreen was a liar but grudgingly admitted that he was the best tutor Tsuna had ever had. He took one look at Tsuna’s maths homework and immediately began to write down and explain the rules of derivatives, which Tsuna had never realised existed before. He made it sound so easy that before long, Tsuna was able to complete a sum on his own.

“Tsu-kun, that’s amazing!” Nana smiled at him as she picked up her handbag. “I’m going out for a bit, so you two be good.”

 “Ah, you’re leaving?” Tsuna said, panicking inwardly.

“I’ll be back before you know it!” was Nana’s reply as she left the kitchen.

“Oi, Tsuna, stop spacing out.” Boreen smacked Tsuna on the head with a rolled up magazine for emphasis. “One right answer means nothing, especially one as simple as this. You should have been able to do this a year ago!”

“Stop telling me I’m stupid!” Tsuna snapped, but returned to his work. He could hear Boreen scoff and say something about spades being spades, but it was just background noise as he struggled through the next equation. It really was a whole different matter from the other but he refused to ask his tutor for another explanation and receive a condescending look. Fifteen minutes later, he had crossed out half his work and still had no idea what to do.

“You have a lot of pride, surprisingly,” Boreen commented, breaking through the grey fluff of growing despair in Tsuna’s mind.

Tsuna glared half-heartedly at the other boy. “Why wouldn’t I, _Reborn_?”

Boreen smirked as he pulled the goatee from his chin and tossed it aside. “You don’t seem to aspire to be much, is all I’m saying. But at least you have keen eyes. Keener than your mother’s, although her swing is pretty deadly.”

“I knew it was you!” Tsuna crowed, although in the back of his mind he recognised the danger he was potentially in.

“I wasn’t trying very hard. The art of a true disguise is hiding in plain sight.” He rested his arm on the table and placed his chin on his lightly-fisted palm. “These are real, by the way,” he said, tapping his glasses. “I just don’t need them often. And yes, I can read minds.”

Tsuna rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t thinking that. Just that you mangled that Sherlock quote.”

“So you’re a Sherlock fan?”

“Yeah, although I prefer the BBC series to the movies.” Tsuna shrugged, and inwardly groaned when he realised that he had relaxed around the older teen yet again.

“I prefer the series as well, although the movies have a separate charm to them.”

Tsuna noticed that Reborn had a very nice smile, and promptly shoved that thought away. Compared to that danger, asking for help was the lesser of two evils. “What am I doing wrong?”

“Better to ask, what are you doing right?” Reborn replied, pulling Tsuna’s work towards him. “I thought you were too proud to ask for help?”

“It’s a pointless pride.”

“So proud but sensible. Like my own little Watson.”

“I’m not shooting any crazy old taxi drivers for you.”

“I prefer chauffeurs anyway.”

“What are you, Mycroft Holmes?”

“That’s more my sister, to be honest.”

“You have a sister?” Tsuna was surprised. He had never heard of another Kawahira sibling, who would surely be as infamous as Reborn.

Reborn’s lips twisted in distaste and he changed the topic. “You’re applying the wrong rule. And I have no idea why you’re bringing in this here.” His pen drew red lines and circles all over the page and the brief familiarity with each other was replaced by professionalism.

Half an hour of diligence passed before Reborn declared a break. Tsuna poured them some juice and they went to sit on the sunlit porch scented with a mix of carnations and yellow camellias.

“You know you can just leave, right?” Tsuna asked, pulling Reborn’s attention away from the camellia he had plucked. “I know you’re you and mum will too, so unless you want to be hit again, it would be best if you leave.”

“Nana-san won’t know.”

“You think I won’t tell her?”

“I know you won’t.” Reborn sipped of his drink. “You need my help more than you want me gone.”

“I can get help from another tutor.” Tsuna narrowed his eyes at the other’s self-assurance.

“Your mother has already given me the 411. You have terrible luck with home tutors. I bet I’m the best you’ve ever had.” When Tsuna didn’t refute his claim, his grin grew predatory.

“You better not be making an innuendo,” Tsuna warned. “You’re not gay, I’m not gay and you’re mad if you think I’m interested in dating you.”

“Maybe we just need the right push,” said Reborn as he leaned into Tsuna’s space and slipped the bloom into Tsuna’s pocket. “We’ll see how it goes,” he whispered, his lips less than a centimetre away from Tsuna’s. He pulled back and stood up. “Break’s over. C’mon, _idiota_.”

 Tsuna took a breath to calm himself after that invasion of privacy. “Ever heard of personal space?” he snapped as he stood and followed Reborn inside. “And don't call me an idiot!”

“I don’t care for such pointless things.” Reborn sat down at the kitchen table. "Wait, you speak Italian?"

“Obviously... So you’re from Italy?” Tsuna asked and then mentally kicked himself.

“Yes. I’ve always seen Namimori as the repository of the Italian elite’s unwanted baggage. Mistresses, bastards, extra children and shunned wives inevitably get sent here.”

“My dad made us move here when I was a baby. He works in Italy as well.” Tsuna’s tone was stiff and the accusation clear.

Reborn paused. “I thought your parents were divorced?”

“Yes, but he’s still my father.” Tsuna shrugged. “And they only got divorced recently.”

Reborn sighed. “I’m my father’s second child but it was through an affair. I grew up here with my mother until she passed away. Her funeral was the first time I had ever seen my father.”

“Oh.” Tsuna felt awkward and was upset that he had gotten snippy over something so small. “That sounds rough.” What a pathetic platitude. “Do you live alone then?”

“With staff.” Reborn glanced at him. “No need for pity. I was just demonstrating that my comment was not meant to insult you.”

“I was not pitying you!”

“I wouldn’t mind if you gave me a sympathetic kiss though,” said Reborn, turning in his seat to face Tsuna.

“Can we get back to work?” Tsuna shoved his textbook in Reborn’s face who huffed a small laugh before taking the book.

Minutes passed and turned into an hour before Nana made her reappearance. “Ara, are you still here, Boreen-san?”

“Your son needs a lot of help,” Reborn replied, surreptitiously smoothing his fake beard back in place. “How was your date?”

“Eh?” Nana’s eyes widened. “I wasn’t on a date!”

Reborn eyed her lightly blushed cheeks. “Whatever you say, Nana-san.”

“ _Anyway_ ,” said Tsuna loudly, “I think you should go home now, Boreen-san.”

Reborn’s eyes glinted dangerously while his lips curled upwards. “Sure thing. Make sure you do these examples and I’ll check them tomorrow after you get off school.”

“Tsu-kun, why don’t you give Boreen-san your number so you can call him if you have a problem?” Nana said, patting her son on the shoulder on her way to collect their dishes.

“We already swapped numbers,” Reborn said, standing up. “I’ll be sure to give you a call later.”

“Please don’t,” Tsuna muttered and got a reprimanding look from his mother. “What? I’ll call first if I need something.” He walked Reborn to the door.

Once out of Nana’s earshot, Reborn said, “I look forward to that call. Don’t let your pride hold you back.” His shoulders brushed against Tsuna’s as he left.

* * *

“So? What do you think?” Haru held the black frog head up to the screen for inspection.

Hayato considered the rather cutesy hat. “Well, it won’t cover his face anymore.”

“That’s kind of the point!” Haru huffed, putting her creation down. “He is rather handsome, so this would work out… I think.”

“I hope he’s worth it,” said the Italian.

Haru shrugged and picked up a folder filled with designs. “So what’s up? You rarely call just me.”

“Hey, I called earlier this week!”

“Yeah, but that was because you owed me some explanations about Tsuna.” Haru pointed her pencil on the screen. “You’re not supposed to keep things like that secret from me in the first place! What if something happens to him like last time?” She bit her lip. “I’m his older friend… and yet he trusts me so little.”

Hayato smiled sympathetically at her slumped shoulders. “It’s not like that and you know it. He just doesn’t want to worry you and you have enough on your plate as it is. Is your dad still on your case about university?”

Haru nodded. “He doesn’t want me to be a designer. He thinks it’s a waste of money and my so-called ‘talent’.” She shook her head. “Not the point of this conversation. What’s up with you?”

 “I’m moving to Namimori,” Hayato declared.

Haru blinked. “WHAT?” she gasped. “When? Why?”

“My dad wants me out of his sight, I guess.”

Haru drew the connection quickly. “What is with you Italians and Namimori? Seriously. You’re coming to Midori then?”

“Midori High was founded by an alliance of mafia dons specifically so that they could send their children to be raised in peace. They say originally the town was created as a retreat for an old and very famous Italian boss, but no one knows for certain. Now it’s the place for the rich to send their kids so that they don’t have to deal with them.”

Haru rolled her eyes. “Thanks for the history lesson. And believe me, I hear enough stories at school about the last part. So why are you telling only me this?”

“I need you to withdraw me from Midori High and enrol me in Namimori High. I can send you all the paperwork and documents, but you’re going to have to get it approved.”

“Won’t your dad get angry?”

“If we do it right, he won’t even know.” Hayato smiled. “Nothing against your school, but I want to go to the same school as Tsuna, if it’s possible.”

“No offence taken.” Haru smiled. “Tsuna needs a friend. I take it you’re not asking for Tsuna’s help in case we fail?”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to get his hopes up. Besides, he’s got his hands fill with that pervert, Reborn. Have you heard from him about his new tutor yet?”

“Nah, but they’re probably still busy.”

 “So, you going to help me out?”

Haru grinned. “Sure. But my services don’t come cheap.”

Hayato privately wondered how many embarrassing cosplays he had just signed up for.

* * *

“So, we’re in agreement?” Squalo glanced over his companions, who nodded. “Very well. You’re in.”

Colonello’s cheers filled the large, equipment-filled club room. There was no doubt in his mind that he would get his old position in the Survival Games Society but Squalo could be a vindictive bastard when he wanted to be.

Lussuria toasted him while Belphagor chomped on a piece of sushi. Xanxus glared at him as he drained his ginger beer, then asked, “Why’d you come back, trash?”

Squalo snorted. “He’s interested in the girls, of course.”

“Not girls, just the one.” Colonello grinned at his neighbour and confidante, who raised an eyebrow.

“Since when are you monogamous?”

“Squalo, you’ve got to see this girl. She’s like a 2D character or something, kora!”

“What is it with Squalo and all the blondes?” Lussuria asked, fanning himself as he talked to Bel. “You, Nello and Dino just gravitate to him!” He ducked the empty glass thrown at his head, causing it to shatter against the wall.

“Trash, you’re paying for that,” Xanxus growled, his arm resting on the back of Squalo’s chair. If the kendo champion noticed, he paid it no mind as he listened to Colonello explain his latest crush.

“Ushishishi… Captain, you should just fuck already.”

“Don’t give him ideas,” Squalo interrupted. “The club room is off-limits.”

“Don’t talk as if I’m not here.” Xanxus yanked on Squalo’s waist-length hair. “And we’ll do it where I want it, trash.”

“Voi! In your fucking dreams!”

“Listen to me when I’m talking, kora!”

“The only thing better than this is the gossip from my design club!” Lussuria tittered.

Bel’s voice managed to reach Colonello over the cacophony. “The Prince demands to use the blonde peasant for target practice.”

“Sure.” Colonello shrugged. “In return, don’t hit Lal Mirch’s face in the contest.”

Silence dominated the room. Within a blink, Squalo had hauled Colonello closer by his t-shirt and snarled, “How the fuck do you know the Slayer?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omake contest:
> 
> Only KestrealBird took a shot last round, so I definitely need to make these questions easier. Anyway, the play that's going to be used (and will be central to the Fon/Viper storyline) is 'The Tragedy of Mariam' by Elizabeth Cary.
> 
> The answer for the title question was really open-ended, but I was looking for something along the lines of the old idiom: better the devil you know than the one you don't know. In this case, chapter 8 was all about the devils the characters don't know, a.k.a. Fran for Haru, Lal for Colonello, Reborn and Fran for Bermuda, and so forth.
> 
> Anyway, here's this chapter's question: what is the meaning of Reborn's flower choice? (Hint: think Japanese meanings, not Western ones.)


	10. Start of Something New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My festive gift to you all is Lal, Squalo, Colonello, Takeshi, Haru, Fran, Reborn, Tsuna, Fon, Skull and Viper.  
> Also, an easy question for a change...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for disappearing on you! Between organising an anime/gaming convention with my uni society, studying, campus and my sister's wedding, life became quite hectic. Hopefully I'll be able to update sooner now :D Thank you for sticking around and see you soon~!
> 
> Big thanks to durpy, we_should_all_be_sleeping and EmptySurface for their comments! And to LectoraDeVida, PastStory, myheartsegg, prusssianpanda (zdr), FyreTempest, Reader93, Avialae, ruhiko, Auroa_wings1994, Dareagon, yaminodatenshi, kakuhou, NanoRabid, Kiirdonel, TearsOfHearts, aHostileRainbow, Creamu, zeixx, we_should_all_be_sleeping, personapeach and AnnAisu for their kudos :)  
> \---
> 
> Omake Contest
> 
> New Q: What show is Tsuna thinking of when he sees Reborn swimming? (Going easy as an apology for the late update). Only the first 3 answers on here, AO3 and tumblr count!
> 
> Winners of last round: Fineapple and Kestrealbird (FFN), but thank you to Evani for participating :D The answers were: carnations are fascination and yellow camellias are longing in hanakotoba (the Japanese language of flowers).

 

Lal frowned as she scanned the perimeters of the field for the fourth time. She could feel someone's gaze on her and it was distracting.

"You okay?" Takeshi called from the pitcher's mound. "Wanna call it quits for now? Class will be starting soon!"

A quick glance at her plastic watch confirmed her friend's words. "One last throw!" she yelled back.

"Haha, okay!" Takeshi's grin was blinding, even from this distance.

Lal settled back into her favourite batting position, muscles taut but mind relaxed. She watched Takeshi get into his pitching pose and saw the moment when his carefree mask shattered. His eyes gleamed as his lips tightened and suddenly a ball was whirling her way, driven by its pitcher's passion and competitive spirit.

Yet Lal was shy of neither of these emotions. She stepped closer to the ball despite its promise of swift oblivion, and waited. A split second passed before she swung the bat. The gleaming white-stained wood met the ball and succeeded in throwing it off course. Lal completed the bat's arcing movement, though her eyes followed the ball's path into the trees.

"Nice one, Lal!" Takeshi whooped, his serious mood lost. "We're going to own the Koshien this year!"

"Idiot! We don't know that for sure!"

Takeshi laughed as he tossed his arm over her shoulder. Lal rolled her eyes but accepted her best friend's embrace as they headed off to collect the scattered practice balls.

However, not everyone was as mild about Takeshi's touchy-feely nature.

"Who the hell is he, kora?" Colonello growled from his hidden perch in the trees. "Why's he so chummy with Lal, kora? Do you think she'd miss him if I have him killed?"

Squalo privately considered the state of his neighbour's sanity. Had Lal's final ball hit him too hard in the head or was Colonello always this obsessive about the things he liked? A long glance at the blonde's face confirmed it: he was concussed.

"C'mon," the kendo champion said, jumping down elegantly. "We don't want to be caught trespassing."

"But we don't know anything yet!"

"I learnt what I came here for," said Squalo, shrugging. "I always knew the Slayer was from our prefecture, but now I know exactly what school she's from. And judging by the build of the guy next to her, I think I found her partner as well."

"What do you mean, partners? Are they together?" Colonello was already visualising his crush and the bastard pitcher entwined on a bed. It was an upsettingly good image.

"The Slayer and the Decimator are a two-person unit that's been making waves in competitive survival gaming," explained the silverette as Colonello finally joined him on the ground. "They even get sponsorship and rumour has it that they're going overseas for a tournament this year."

"O-Overseas?" Colonello gasped. "Don't tell me it's… a honeymoon?!"

Squalo ignored him for the rest of the day.

* * *

"And then he didn't even call!" Reborn complained loudly as he took out his world history textbook in preparation for the first lesson of the day. "I thought I finally made progress, but no. In fact, I think the brat blocked my number!"

'Considering how it got onto his phone in the first place, can you blame him?' Verde wondered.

"Don't let that discourage you," Fon said mildly, reading the script for the school play. "It's normal for such things to happen."

'In what world? Stalkers can be scary.' Verde frowned at the half-filled page in front of him.

"I'll definitely give him hell for it when I go tutor him today."

Verde internally groaned. 'There's really nothing for it. I'm going to have to ask.'

"Are you going to wait that long to see him?" Fon glanced up.

'Alright, I can do this!'

Reborn frowned. "I can never find him during breaks."

"Maybe you should-"

"CanIcopyyourhomework?" Verde's words escaped his unwilling mouth in a rush.

His friends were still for a moment, unjumbling his hasty declaration, before they whipped around to stare unblinkingly at him.

"Who are you and what have you done to Verde?" Fon demanded.

Verde's head hit the desk as he groaned. "Just give me the damned homework!"

Reborn tutted. "Is that any way to ask someone for a favour?"

The greenette wondered why he was friends with such assholes. He even said so aloud, but that only made them laugh and ask which homework tasks he had yet to complete. Both of his friends were shocked into silence when he admitted that he hadn't finished any of it.

"Why the hell not?" Reborn asked. Verde opened his mouth to deflect, but Reborn tacked on a qualifier. "I want the exact reason or you're getting nothing."

Fon nodded sagely in agreement.

"I hate you both," Verde snarled. "Fine, I was chatting online last night and lost track of time."

Reborn handed over his history assignment, while Fon searched for his English worksheets.

"Who's the person you were chatting with?" asked Fon mildly. "Someone we know?"

"Someone on tumblr." Verde's attention was fully on Reborn's work, glad for once that he was friends with his only real academic rivals. However, his focus was his undoing as Reborn soon made clear.

"You gave them your real number? Are you insane?"

Verde's head snapped up to see that while he was pursuing his noble educational goals, his friends had managed to crack his password and invade his privacy. Fon turned the phone around so the greenette could see that they were reading his tumblr inbox messages. A new one had come in from the-immortal-skull: 'Wow, is this your real number? Cool! Umm, I guess I'll chat to you later then?'

For a moment, he almost made a mad grab for his phone. His muscles twitched in anticipation of such a move, something he knew that the other two had noticed. His mind soon overrode that impulse, knowing full well that he would never win against their brute strength and martial art finesse. So instead he took the high road (the only one left to him), and continued with his work silently.

He should have known that ignoring his childish friends would only worsen the situation. By the time their teacher entered their nosy classroom and his phone was returned, Verde was left wondering how badly things had gone.

* * *

"If you don't like it, I can fix it!" Haru exclaimed, twining her fingers together behind her back as she waited for Fran to give his verdict on the black frog hat. "It's nothing like your old one, but I thought this one might be easier to use. Your current one keeps getting stuck in the doorways, right?"

The green-haired foreigner didn't reply, too preoccupied with the cutesy headgear in his hands. His eyes raked over and approved of the careful construction of the surprisingly heartfelt gift. His previous headgear was sitting on the cafeteria table next to his lunch, and a few girls at a nearby table were staring at his handsome uncovered face. Their appreciative glances had no effect on him.

Flipping the hat the right way around, Fran unceremoniously stuck it onto his head. "Thank you, Ugly Face Haru-sempai."

"Just call me Haru!"

The foreigner's bright green eyes latched onto Haru's, the deadpan expression temporarily dissipating for an intense look that pulled Haru up short. "Haru it is." Even his voice seemed different: more sensual, in a way that made Haru blush. "Can I have your number, Haru?"

Haru stammered out the numerals as Fran typed them into his phone, his eyes never leaving her face. Some girls passing by giggled at his focus, not that they recognised him.

"Would you like to join me for lunch, Haru?" Fran continued, pushing aside his giant frog head to make space for the girl.

Haru normally hung out in the clubroom during lunch breaks, working on her drawings. It had been a long time since she spent it with another person. "Sure!" she exclaimed eagerly. "I just need to make a call quickly."

Fran nodded as she pulled out her phone and walked away slightly, not wanting anyone to overhear her conversation with Tsuna. Her worries were needless: Tsuna didn't pick up the call.

* * *

This was probably the first time that Fon had seen so many people in the Theatre Clubroom. He didn't even know there were so many people Viper was comfortable being around. Yet here he was, standing in a room that was thankfully free of the usual anti-Fon mechanisms, and nearly completely surrounded by strangers. The boxes that normally hid Viper and Skull away were strewn about and chairs had been set up in the large dusty classroom.

"Settle down," Skull called as he dragged in Viper's usual throne. "The pres is gonna make a speech!"

Viper walked out from behind him and sat delicately on the throne. Slowly, the hubbub died down and she was able to speak. "It's encouraging to see so many faces interested in making our first production in over a decade a success. Congratulations to everyone who passed the auditions and thank you to everyone who has agreed to help backstage. We will be performing, as you by now know, Elizabeth Carey's _The Tragedy of Mariam_ : an unusual but interesting choice that the Theatre Club voted for. I warn you now that this will be time-consuming and aggravating on many days but perfection is something that we must work hard to achieve." She took a breath. "I refuse to accept subpar work. Whether you got here by skill or by popularity," here her hood faced Fon, "I expect you all to give your best to make this successful. Above all, be passionate and enjoy yourself."

Skull began clapping and the others politely followed suit. Once the noise died down, he spoke up. "Alright, so I'm going to read out who got what role, starting from the minor characters to the majors. After that, all the players will stay here and all the people interested in working backstage will come with me to the hall where I will start assigning teams. Backstage reports to me. Actors report to Viper or one of the other committee members." A few people in the back waved but Fon recognised none of them.

Skull wasted no more time in reading off the short list in his hand. Names of characters and the classmates who would be playing them rushed over Fon's head until finally he heard:

"Fon will be playing King Herod. Viper will play Mariam."

Giddiness rushed through Fon's body and a huge smile broke out on his face. He practically floated to Viper's side, who shoved him away with a hiss. "Don't get so full of yourself! You still have to prove your mettle."

Regardless of her stinging words, his joy refused to dissolve. In fact, he was buoyed even more when he was informed that the three main characters would spend their weekends practising together. The girl playing Salome was a sophomore called Hana, but Fon was sure he could work around her to spend some alone time with Viper.

Viper's scowl deepened, as if she had guessed where his thoughts had wandered. She was such a cute tsundere.

* * *

Reborn barely glanced at his anpan as he ate it, but even it received more attention than the bento meticulously constructed by Bermuda that remained unopened in his bag. The bread stuck in his throat as he swallowed and, unbidden, a memory of his one rooftop lunch came to mind. 'Again that damn brat.'

His next bite was vicious, recalling the annoyance of having his phone calls and messages ignored (and possibly blocked) for almost sixteen hours now. It would have probably been more if he had had his coffee fix, but his self-imposed ban meant that his sleeping hours were increased and his temper shortened.

The idle chatter of his third-floor classroom flowed over him, a buzzing white noise that failed to break his musings. His friends had taken off, Verde for a 'project' and Fon for stalking. Hmm, stalking. Maybe he should go find Tsu-

'Stop that thought right there,' he silently ordered. This was pathetic. He was not some pining love-struck teenager! He was just bored.

And what better way to end the tedium than by breaking some rules via a smoke on the rooftop? If he happened upon the Disciplinary Committee along the way, all the better, he decided. Pulling out his cigarettes from his bag, he slipped the white box into his grey pants and casually wove between the clique-arranged desks on his way to the door. He heard some whispers behind his back but his anpan and patience had both been finished.

Less than five minutes was required to get to the rooftop. The first rush of nicotine steadied his mind and helped him ignore the disappointing pang of not seeing Tsuna sitting on the small bench under the sunlight. He didn't have the mental fortitude to deny that he had actually came there in the hopes of finding the elusive freshman.

Reborn admired the mouthwash blue sky distantly, the sun's brilliant path ripping the clean view into shards of stabbing colour. He blinked away the dancing purple dots from his vision as he cast his gaze onto the shaded courtyard below. Slowly, he paced the perimeter of the roof while idly taking note of the shenanigans below. People were gossiping, laughing, crying, confessing... Did none of them ever break the tedium? He felt like he was living a slice of life anime through the eyes of a background character. How utterly droll.

The sparkling surface of the pool caught his eye. Not because he remembered that his class would have their P.E. classes there but because the pool was covered in tiny floating smudges of colour and a familiar puffy-haired brunette was trying to gather them up.

Perhaps the trip to the roof was worth it after all.

* * *

Tsuna resisted the urge to scream, but just barely. His knees were sore and soaked from kneeling on the poolside cement and the stick he was using to bring his school supplies towards him was barely making a difference. The gently lapping water seemed to be mocking him. Tears edged his vision.

"I see your bullies are at it again."

Tsuna's fists reflexively tightened. "Thanks for pointing out the obvious."

Reborn snorted as he came closer. "Rude little kohai, aren't you?"

"Can I help you?"

"I think it's the other way around, this time." Reborn ignored Tsuna's glare. "Why aren't you using the net pole?"

"The door to the pool room is closed and I think they took it away anyway," Tsuna replied through gritted teeth. His tears were slowly being blinked away but a bone-aching tiredness was seeping into him in its wake.

"Why don't you just get into the water? It would be faster."

"I don't have a spare change of clothes."

"I'll lend you mine."

"I have nowhere to change."

"Change here. I won't look-"

"Doubt it."

"-and it's not like anyone else is here."

Tsuna sighed and muttered, "I can't swim."

There was a beat of silence, during which Tsuna's cheeks reddened.

"Feel free to watch me change. I have a great body and an exhibitionist streak."

"Huh?" Tsuna whirled around to look at Reborn, only to turn away when the older boy's pants were dropped. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Changing into my swimming trunks."

"We're out in the open!" Tsuna protested, burning hot from all the blood flooding his face.

"You're cute when you blush," Reborn mused but Tsuna refused to comment until he heard the slap of elastic against skin that signified Reborn had finished changing.

"Thank you," he said softly, sincerely.

Reborn ruffled the younger boy's hair as he came to stand next to Tsuna. "It's not like I'm doing this for free."

Tsuna opened his mouth to yell but Reborn was already diving in. After that it became hard to remain angry because… well… Reborn looked good. _Very_ good, in fact. Tsuna was tempted to make comparisons with that awful anime that Haru had made him watch (just because she shared a name with the main character).

Compared to the twenty minutes it had taken Tsuna to gather some of his sodden notebooks and pens, Reborn was finished in a jiffy. The upperclassman passed the last of Tsuna's textbooks to him before crossing his arms on the pool's edge and resting his head on them while gazing up at Tsuna.

"Enjoying the view?" he asked teasingly.

Tsuna ignored him in favour of examining his books' condition. It could have been worse, he decided, but it did little to soothe him.

Reborn sighed at the lack of attention and hauled himself out of the water. Tsuna didn't bother to look at him as water cascaded down his body in what Reborn imagined was a rather fetching way. He circled the depressed boy and from his gym bag plucked his towel, using it to quickly wipe himself off. In the distance, the bell rang.

Tsuna's mouth twisted in distaste, but he reluctantly began to gather up his wet stationary and reached for his bag.

"You're not going back to class like that," Reborn said firmly.

His words made Tsuna pause. "I can't afford to miss it."

"It's the beginning of the year," Reborn reminded him.

Tsuna's eyes flashed upwards, anger swirling in their depths. "I won't let them get to me!"

"So instead you will go back there in wet pants, carrying your wet things that can't be used, and arrive late enough to make the teacher yell." Reborn's voice was harsh on Tsuna's ears. "Even if you somehow manage to avoid being kicked out, you won't have anything to do for the remainder of the day and they can laugh at your humiliation."

Tsuna's shoulders slumped. He rubbed at his eyes tiredly. "I'm so sick of this."

Reborn watched him for a moment before putting a hand on the kneeling boy's shoulder. "C'mere for a second."

Tsuna didn't care enough to refuse at that point. Once he was far enough from the wet cement, Reborn handed over the pants he was wearing earlier.

"They'll be a bit long for you, but it's better than wearing damp ones."

"But what are you going to wear?" Tsuna protested.

"No one will care if I wear gym clothes for a day."

Reborn purposely turned around, so Tsuna reluctantly changed. The pants were long, but Tsuna had a few safety pins that Reborn had rescued from the water. Sometimes his mother's fussing came in handy.

While he had been changing, Reborn had packed up their things. "I'll change inside," he said, "and I'll handle your stuff." He took out one of his spare notebooks and a pen to give to Tsuna.

"Thanks," Tsuna said, smiling at the other sincerely as he accepted them. "But I can-!"

"I said I'll handle it," Reborn cut him off. "I'll give your stuff back at our tutoring session later."

Tsuna bit his lip before asking, "What's in it for you?"

Reborn smirked. "I'll tell you how you can repay me later."

On his way back to class, Tsuna wondered if it would be worth it.


	11. Reading Beyond the Line

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lame chapter title is lame... Have some hint at plot progression! Otherwise, cute background interactions that will culminate in an AMAZING next chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Muhahahaha, look who's back because real life is killing her and she temporarily wanted to procrastinate from her four big tests coming up? ME! Also, every time I get a notification for a new follower/review, I feel super guilty. So here's a new chapter! There will be no contests until I finish all the remaining prizes (but you're welcome to speculate on who Nana is going out with). There were so many entries last time! Thank you all so much :)
> 
> (I also apologise for not using my forum much at all these past few months. RL is making me feel dead inside)
> 
> Thank you to monochrome_noah, crimsonwings, TiaraShin, xxxteehee, Kimeako, lovefae, IridescentStars, EmptySurface, emja, Krazee_Cupcake, Edipo, Kanjecture, kittit24, CBookWyrm, TierraHermosa, Hibird666, Mimmy_chan, cielo72, Angieni, nilnil, FeminineBrain, Sayabloody, Angelmonster and LiveLifeAndNeverLearn for the kudos :) 
> 
> Huge shout-out to Mimmy_chan, we_should_all_be_sleeping, IridescentStars and durppy for the comments, especially Mimmy_chan who not only has the same nickname as one of my beloved sisters, but also painstakingly gave these amazing comments on the beginning chapters that pushed me to finally update this thing (even if it's short). 
> 
> There were sooooo many entries last time, but only three from AO3 and three from FFN are allowed to win a prize (unsurprisingly, no one enters on tumblr T-T). However, congrats to everyone else who realised the anime was Free!
> 
> The AO3 winners are: we_should_all_be_sleeping and IridescentStars! Congrats!! I'll contact you soon for your prompts.
> 
> I will reply to ALL the comments I've gotten soon. I promise. Just let me get through the next week of hell T-T Also, I apologise in advance for any mistakes in this chapter. I just wanted to update :/

 

THUD!

Colonello's fourth tennis ball bounced loudly off of Squalo's window and skipped around Squalo's balcony, finally settling into a random pot plant.

"Squalo~~!" There was no reply from within. Colonello growled at how easily his neighbour was ignoring him, and this time grabbed a soccer ball to launch across the 3m distance between their balconies. No sooner did the ball leave his hand than the glass door of Squalo's room opened.

"Voi, you fucker-!" Squalo's words were caught off by the ball that smashed into his face. Time seemed to slow down as the white ball imprinted itself onto Squalo's face and he stumbled back from the force. He caught himself in mid-fall and a clawed hand lifted the ball off his nose. "Xanxus, I'll call you back."

Colonello gulped as his neighbour cut his call on the wireless telephone in his hand. The blonde just barely ducked the ball that was flung hard enough to crack the tile he was previously standing on.

"How many fucking times do I have to tell you—!" Squalo started.

Two doors and a window were thrown open. From the doors came the mutual cry of "Would the two of you shut the hell up?" and from their neighbour's window was yelled: "Get a room already!"

"Sorry, mum!" they both called to their respective houses. Their annoying fudanshi neighbour was ignored.

Squalo dug through a chest he kept on the balcony, finally liberating a battered but still serviceable pair of cups connected by a string. After sitting carelessly on the wrought iron balcony, he tossed one of the cups to Colonello. "Alright, you bastard, what the fuck do you want?" he asked into his cup, then lifted it to his ear.

"It's about Lal-!" The rest of Colonello's words were interrupted by the lightning-fast tennis ball that he didn't manage to dodge. "Oww, what the hell, kora? Truce!"

"Don't waste my time! You haven't shut up about her since you met her!"

"It's been long enough. I should make a move."

"It's been, what, four days since you met her? She won't even give you a second glance!"

"Don't be like that, kora! Is it because I interrupted your sex call?"

"Despite what you may think, Xanxus and I do actually talk about shit not related to sex."

"Oh yeah, he's head of the disciplinary committee. Remind me again why that isn't you?"

Squalo rubbed his forehead with a put-upon sigh while Colonello continued to hold his cup to his ear, waiting for a reply. Squalo's cup felt grimy when he covered his mouth with it, reminding him again of all the years of use it had seen. "You have work tomorrow morning?"

"Nah, sunrise shoots are too expensive to be common."

"C'mon over, then. Dad brought some real gelato back from Sicily."

"I love you, Squalo!" Colonello cheered loudly, throwing the cup back.

Squalo swore he heard their other neighbour squeal. Fucking voyeur.

* * *

_Send me a selfie! I don't know whether you're a boy or a girl…_

Skull frowned as he read the latest message from mad-green-scientist. It was… odd. Even odder than the fact that the blogger had sent him a phone number so 'they could chat more'. He didn't really know enough about the blogger to send him something so personal.

_Haha, you first!_

He pressed 'Send' and returned to the blank sheets of paper before him. He had already finished the next six pages of his manga collaboration with Viper, which allowed him to finally turn his attention to his first manga that had brought him some acclaim: _Love Suburbia_. He had some great material to work with, and he quickly jotted down the main ideas before they disappeared into the night. Some friendship, unrealised jealousy, ice-cream-sharing while complaining about their relationships… Ah, life was good when inspiration flowed.

His bedroom was brightly lit, which allowed the large posters of Alice Nine, _Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun, Yahari Ore wa Seishun Love Comedy was Machigatteru_ and ViViD to be easily seen against the pale yellow walls. The powerful notes of Alice Nine's _Shadowplay_ blasted from his laptop's speakers just as he started working on the individual panels of his work. Only after the last piano notes faded, did he realise his phone was buzzing for his attention.

Three tumblr notifications from mad-green-scientist awaited him, as did two missed calls from Alouette. Yikes. It must have been important.

Kyoya answered after the second ring. "I'm coming over," was all the prefect said before cutting the call.

"Rude!" Skull stuck his tongue out at the empty room. He tossed his phone onto his magnificently large (and sinking-into-heaven comfortable) bed, where it gleamed against the navy covers with artistic splashes of paint. At least, that's what Skull thought of it. His grandmother had pitched a fit when she saw what his friends had done to his sheets while drunk from some liquor chocolates Kyoya had received from his father.

Deciding to get some more work done, the manga-ka continued to sketch. The long-haired girl on his page came to life as he drew her throwing a tennis ball at her laughing neighbour. He left the speech bubbles blank for now, not entirely sure what he wanted to open with. Drawing Hanabi sitting on the railing was much more difficult, as the proportions and angle just didn't seem to work.

"Is that a monkey?" Warm breath accompanied a cool voice as it brushed over Skull's ears.

His heartrate picked up significantly, but he plastered on a smile and refused to lean away. "Kyoya! When did you get here?"

"Now," the prefect replied, plucking the page from under Skull's lax fingers. "What is this?"

"Hanabi on the balcony railing."

"It's terrible."

"Mind modelling for me then?" Skull gave Kyoya his best puppy eyes, which caused his friend to snort but move to the open window. Skull picked up his sketching book and rolled in his chair to a better vantage spot to see Kyoya while he settled onto the balcony comfortably.

It was purely for artistic purposes that Skull noticed Kyoya's slightly flattened hair, signifying that he had driven his motor bike here. The moonlight shone on the slight dusting of colour on Kyoya's cheek, indicating the anger that flickered through his grey eyes, but he still indulged Skull's whims.

"Something bothering you?" Skull asked as he began to sketch his friend's outline.

Kyoya was silent for several moments before leading in with, "Dino invited me out."

Skull blinked before grinning widely. "That's great!"

"On a date."

His smile remained in place. "I'm not seeing the problem?"

"Where was I today, herbivore?" Kyoya hissed.

"At your monthly get together – oh!" Skull paused. "Was it in front of everyone?"

"Yes."

"The Huangs, the Mammons, the Chaviarones… they all heard him ask you out?"

"Yes, herbivore!" Kyoya snapped. "Are you done?"

"One last question. Did you say yes?"

The words hung in the air, suffocating the atmosphere. Skull continued to make meaningless lines on the paper, his eyes unable to even glance at his friend. His gut twisted when he heard Kyoya sigh.

"Does it matter?"

"Yes."

"What do you think I told him?"

Not 'what do you want to hear?'. So it was a test. Kyoya was at the end of his tether.

Idly, Skull started filling in extra details on his sketch. The iron of Kyoya's eyes were shaded in, the soft fringe given texture, the collar bones defined.

"Not bad."

Skull held still as Kyoya invaded his personal space, their heads nearly brushing while Kyoya examined his work.

"You're supposed to be working on the pose."

"I got distracted."

Kyoya moved away towards the bed, killing the moment.

"You said no, obviously. It felt like he was trying to force you into it by asking you in front of everyone. But you still found it amusing that he was trying to prove his bravery by defying Fon."

"Not bad, herbivore." Kyoya trailed his fingertips over the spines of the manga strewn haphazardly on a shelf. "I have little interest in the Bronco either way." He selected the latest volume of _Love Suburbia_ and sat down on the bed, pausing for a moment to glance at Skull.

The purplette sighed and popped open of his desk drawers. Inside glinted a treasure trove of treats, from which he selected fudge truffles and sour worms before joining Kyoya on the bed. He continued drawing, the sketch of Kyoya alongside his manga panels, while his friend soaked in the warmth of his presence in between the turning of pages.

The sweets added an extra tang on Skull's tongue, which was already dancing with childhood nostalgia.

* * *

Reborn shut Tsuna's textbook with a sense of finality. "And that's it for today."

Tsuna's head thudded against the kitchen table, exhaustion evident. Five hours of tutoring was torture, plain and simple. "Even school is not this bad!"

"Then you're not doing it right," Reborn replied. "Although that's evident from your test scores and general lack of knowledge."

Tsuna glared at him. "You're one to talk." He flipped through the pages of the notebook Reborn had given him earlier that day until he came to a page covered in doodles. "School must be _so_ taxing for you. For the record, I am not a tuna fish!" he stabbed viciously at a bubbly image of a fish with hair reminiscent of his own.

"I am quite aware of that fact. It isn't half as enjoyable to kiss a fish."

"How can you say shit like that with a straight face?" Tsuna moaned, smacking the other on the arm.

"Because it's true and your mother is too busy getting ready for her date to notice us flirting?"

"She's going out to see a friend! And you're the only one flirting. I'm trying to learn!"

"Not very hard, though," Reborn noted with a smirk.

"Is it my fault your skills are so lacking?" Tsuna shot back.

"Did you just make an innuendo?" Reborn's smile grew more genuine. "See? The flirting is mutual."

"Listen you-!"

"Tsu-kun~!"

There was a knock on the door that heralded its opening to admit Nana. In the space of those few seconds, Reborn quickly reapplied his basic cosplay. Tsuna would have commented, had his attention not been riveted to his mother.

"You look lovely, Nana-san," Reborn said dutifully.

"Thank you, Boreen-kun." Nana beamed, brushing a curled strand of hair back into place. Pink lipstick glistened against the carefully powdered backdrop of her face. Clinking bangles decorated arms bared to the elements by a sleeveless mini dress that brushed Nana's thighs.

Tsuna could honestly say he had never realised how young his mother looked until that moment. "Uh… that's a bit fancy for meeting up with a friend, don't you think?" he finally managed to articulate.

"Ara? Tsu-kun, I thought I told you: I'm going on a date!" Nana's smile grew brighter. "You two can help yourselves to supper. I'll be back late, so don't wait up!" She waved as she walked away.

"Called it." Reborn's voice rang with victory.

Tsuna refused to speak a word to him until after he had served them both dinner. "Don't get used to this," he warned, placing a bowl of steaming broth in front of Reborn.

Snapping his chopsticks, Reborn dug in with relish, without bothering to respond to Tsuna. They sat in companionable silence until the end of the meal, when Reborn finally broached the subject Tsuna was avoiding.

"So, about my repayment for today…"

Tsuna grimaced, but didn't interrupt.

"I've decided you will grant two of my wishes."

"What am I: a genie?"

"Sass. Good. That means you're not disagreeing."

"It depends on the nature of these favours."

"They're small enough. One: attend the Survival Games this weekend."

Tsuna shrugged. He intended to go anyway, for Haru's sake.

"Second: come over to my house tomorrow."

"What? Why?"

"Sorry, not negotiable."

Slamming his hands on the table, Tsuna practically growled at Reborn for an adequate explanation. "Or you can forget it! What kind of idiot walks into a known pervert's house?"

Reborn sighed. "I have been coming to your house for hours to tutor you. It's cutting into my own academic time. If you come to my house, I can give you examples and do my research simultaneously."

It was then that it hit him. For how long was he going to take advantage of Reborn's interest for his own gain? His sempai wasn't even being paid for the time he spent tutoring Tsuna…

"My driver will fetch us after school."

Tsuna couldn't bring himself to complain about the arrogant lilt of Reborn's voice.


	12. Taking Chances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, your email did not lie to you. I updated (although this chapter isn't edited properly...)! Unfortunately, we'll all be lucky if I manage to update again by August T-T 
> 
> Thank you to raineynight713, AterFeles, x_Silent_x_Limbo_x, Flubi, miyukiv, silverlightningknight, rainingmallows and all the guests for leaving kudos, as well as to everyone who has subscribed and bookmarked this story. 
> 
> Special shout out to Mimmy-chan for posting a comment on all of the past chapters. Also, yvonna has now made me see Reborn as a sadistic Tamaki (from OHSHC), and I can't unsee it xD So here's to passing the virus on!
> 
> Still no new contest (unfortunately) but I've seen some interesting guesses as to who Nana is dating. So here's another question for fun: what do you think "Misaki's" is?
> 
> (Also, a reminder that the play quoted here is "The Tragedy of Mariam" by Elizabeth Cary. It's legally available online, if you want to subject yourself to it)

 

 

 

Lal was having a terrible day, depending on how you looked at it. On one hand, she was employee of the month at _Misaki's_ , according to her co-workers and popular demand. However, it was kind of hard to consistently turn down an offer for more working hours and an even better pay, especially considering that all her airsoft gear was in need of an upgrade. In fact, last night's late night practice for the upcoming interschool Survival Game had led to her third favourite rifle being laid to rest.

_Airsoft for All_ gave a great employee discount, but the high spec equipment she and Takeshi used was still quite expensive. Takeshi had tried to convince her to claim it from their sponsors, but Survival Games were not that popular a sport, and she would rather not run their backers off so quickly. It was a miracle that they were getting an all-expenses-paid trip to the Shanghai Game later in the year.

Either way, she needed money. But going for more hours at _Misaki's_ meant more travel expenses, and less time at _Airsoft_. Less time at Airsoft meant less practice with her gear overall. Less time at working practising with Takeshi meant that she would have to make up for it either by cutting into the time she spent doing her schoolwork, or cutting into baseball practice: neither were feasible. She could take some time off from working at _Takesushi_ in the evenings, but Old Man Yama paid well, preferred her help and gave her a free dinner. Even if she did drop that time at _Takesushi_ , it would be useless to practice Airsoft manoeuvres without Takeshi and he enjoyed helping out his dad.

_Why is this my life?_ Lal internally sighed, heading towards the sunlit gates of Namimori High. Her hand idly rubbed against the bruise forming on her upper arm from a distracted moment at baseball practice. The coach had just told her to get more sleep, but Lal knew the blame for it was firmly on her noticing a very noticeable senior walking past the field. Seriously, fuck her life.

Just before she left the school grounds, Lal stopped and shook her head. Face stern and eyes shut, her rigid hands clapped twice in a familiar childhood ritual. _Let go of what you cannot change. Accept the bad. Focus on the now._

Her eyes opened as she let go of the whiny, unnecessary thoughts that had been plaguing her all day. Firstly, she needed to get to _Airsoft_ , sort out the new stock and then start negotiating for better prices for a replacement rifle. If she's lucky, she might even get in a few pages of maths before Takeshi showed up for his shift.

Mind focused, she walked out onto the street and was immediately faced with bright blue eyes and shiny blonde hair that nearly collided with her face.

"What the hell?" she snarled, punching her attacker in the face. He hit the ground hard. There were no other people in her immediate periphery. "Who are you?"

"Owww," the blond guy groaned pitifully. "Did you have to hit me in the _face_? I have a photoshoot tomorrow!"

Lal considered leaving, but if this guy was the start of a growing threat, then she needed to know. "Who are you and why did you try to attack me?"

"Firstly, kora," the blond said, rubbing his cheek while getting to his feet, "I didn't try to attack you. I wanted to greet you, is all!"

Lal raised an eyebrow, while mentally cataloguing the boy. Midori High uniform (alarm bell number one), pretty boy face (save for the shiner on his cheek, which Lal was rather proud of), blue eyes (why were there so many foreigners at Midori?), no immediate weapons, no school bag, cocky posture (how typical of a rich boy), some muscle tone and a far too loose body language for an assaulter (though that meant shit if the guy was well-trained enough).

The boy suddenly smiled at her. "Oh well. I'm Colonnello Combusin."

"Is that supposed to mean something?" Lal asked drily.

The boy looked slightly taken aback, but recovered quickly. "Um, never mind. Just wanted you know my name…"

"Are you a spy? Stalker? Did you come here to threaten me?"

"What? No, kora! None of the above!" Colonnello (if that was his real name) waved his hands hastily in the air. "I, um, met you before and I just thought you were, you know…"

Lal stared him down.

"…pretty," finished the boy lamely. "Wanna catch a movie with me, kora?"

...Well, this was a depressing insult to her intelligence. Lal may not be the smartest person in the district, but she topped her standard every year. The spy could have least had the decency to find a better adjective.

"No. Get lost."

She turned on her heel and left, leaving the shocked boy behind in the dulling light.

* * *

"Kurokawa Hana, meet Fon Huang," Viper swept her arm from one to another, seated on her fake throne while the other two sat on a table before her. "Fon will be playing Herod. Hana will be playing Salome, Herod's sister."

"Hana - a beautiful name for a beautiful girl," greeted Fon, bowing slightly.

"I put some make-up on to get used to it," replied Hana. "Salome seems the type to go the extra mile investing in her looks."

While Fon blinked at the odd response, Viper smoothly complimented her. "Good to see you're getting in character. I can see why you're already in the running to become the next vice-chair once Skull succeeds me." Taking a sip of her milk, she set it aside on a small alter and picked up one of the folders lying on it. "Today's meeting is to discuss our interpretation of our characters, so that we can get feedback, agreement and decide how we want them to interact with each other."

Both her audience members nodded, and Hana pulled out a file from her bag. When Fon didn't do the same, they both stared at him.

"Have you made notes or did you memorise them already?" Viper asked, tugging irritably at her hoody.

"I wasn't aware I needed to have notes," Fon admitted, somewhat sheepishly. "I read the whole play and got the general gist of it."

Hana mouthed 'general gist?' with raised eyebrows, but Viper just sighed with a quiet mutter of "Why am I not surprised?"

"I thought you'd just tell me what you envisioned for Herod," he explained.

"There are multiple ways to portray a character, but players tend to be act in the way they've read their characters. It is up to you to decide which way you think would best fit you. Were you a professional, perhaps it would be different." Viper indicated his bag. "Try writing out your 'general gist' of Herod while we discuss our characters. Feel free to add commentary, if it is helpful."

"Shall I go first then?" Hana said, after a few beats of silence broken only by the sounds of Fon rustling through his schoolwork to find an empty exam pad. Once Viper nodded, Hana launched into her explanation of Salome's character and Fon was quickly distracted.

Yes, he had done many character sketches in his literature classes, but always drawing on what was already known and what the guide books offered. This play had few notes, so Fon had mostly been left up to his own interpretation of the flowery language that it invoked, and he hadn't dwelled on it long. Hana, and obviously Viper, had gone much further.

Hana started on the same wavelength that Fon was on, mentioning Salome's beauty, jealousy, flighty interests and desire for more female liberation, especially in terms of marriage and divorce. However, the first year quickly diverged and piled on all sorts of other facts that Fon hadn't considered: how Salome was used as a political tool, her 'second child syndrome', the constant juxtaposition between Salome and Herod which was aggravated by her gender ("They're both so similar in their desires and in their arrogant ways: they've obviously been raised to think the same. But Herod is ham-fisted while Salome is manipulative and discreet – something she had to learn since her gender barred her from taking the kind of action that Herod could perform openly").

"I think she's rather bitter when she interacts with her brother," Hana continued, flipping a page, "whereas with Mariam – her brother's second wife prized for her beauty – there is a bit of jealousy, but mostly there's pity."

Viper nodded. "I see that. I think she also looks at Mariam as what she could become if Herod had lost: a sexual prize of the conquest. I think that's part of the reason why she's interested in marrying Silleus, because he gives her a way out of that political arena. But also, Mariam is sort of like Constabarus – the second spouse, prettier than the first, taken when the first got too boring and also as a political alliance. Maybe Salome doesn't like that reminder of her second husband, who she gets killed so easily."

"Do you think there's incestuous undertones? After all, Salome doesn't seem to get much from her lovers."

"I was thinking more of the so-called penis envy, but either is possible."

"Don't you think that's going too far?" interrupted Fon. "Is it even relevant?"

"Could be. We could bring in some fanservice with that," said Viper, tapping her pen on her chin. "Although I think it would be better to channel the anger and bitterness between the siblings."

"But if there is a bit of incestuous feelings, it would colour Salome's interactions with Mariam," Hana pointed out.

"Do you have any textual evidence of this?" asked Viper.

Hana picked up her script and began pointing out pieces she felt relevant. Fon felt rather excluded from the conversation.

"Can I look through these?" he asked, pointing at Viper's collection of files. She waved him on without pausing her discussion.

The thinnest of the files was dedicated to costumes and set discussions. Fon recognised Viper and Kyoya's best friend's work in the sketches. Skull certainly knew how to draw. Around each picture were multiple notes, some in Viper's hand, about why certain additions were necessary. In the margins were pencilled estimated costs. These were cross-referenced in the next file Fon opened, which was a budget for the club as a whole, and this specific production.

The next three files were dedicated to staging discussions between Viper and Skull, minutes from meetings with various school staff and other members, and finally a thick folder filled with pages of notes interpreting the play. All of the notes in the last file were in Viper's meticulous handwriting.

Fon turned through the pages, noting that it seemed to discuss certain passages in depth, especially noting interactions between these characters. Quoted passages were handwritten in blue ink and surrounding by words in various colours. Sometimes there would just be a question ('what is the tone?') in green, followed by various options in different colours. One of them would be bracketed, probably suggesting Viper's choice.

Multiple interpretations indeed. Viper was considering this from every angle. Even though she had already made up her mind, she was still willing to let go depending on what he or Hana said. Already, in one of Salome's monologues, Viper had made several points that she had conceded to Hana's interpretation.

"Alright, I think I'm fine with this," Viper's voice interrupted Fon's thoughts, and he shut the file. She waited until Fon was focusing on his companions before she continued, "Fon will have to bring his interpretation to us tomorrow. In the meantime, try to work especially on your monologues, bringing out as much of Salome's character as you can."

Hana nodded seriously.

"As for myself," Viper reached for her hoodie, "I find that the opening monologue captures Mariam's personality better than my own words can. Allow me to quote one of favourite parts of it."

She pushed down the long hood, and then removed the headcap she wore over her long purple hair. Fon's breath stuck in his throat. It had been years since he had seen her willingly take off the ensemble. Had her eyes always been so delicately dancing the border between blue and purple? Had she always had that small scar on her right cheek? His eyes followed her fingers as they brushed through some unruly strands, trying to ease the muss.

Viper rose to her feet, and, ignoring their presence, began to pace and recite.

_"Oft have I wished that I from him were free:_

_Oft have I wished that he might lose his breath,_

_Oft have I wished his carcass dead to see._

_Then rage and scorn had put my love to flight,_

_That love which once on him was firmly set:_

_Hate hid his true affection from my sight,_

_And kept my heart from paying him his debt._

_And blame me not, for Herod's jealousy_

_Had power even constancy itself to change:_

_For he, by barring me from liberty,_

_To shun my ranging, taught me first to range._

_But yet too chaste a scholar was my heart,_

_To learn to love another than my lord:_

_To leave his love, my lesson's former part,_

_I quickly learned, the other I abhorred._

_But now his death to memory doth call_

_The tender love that he to Mariam bare."_

Fon couldn't take his eyes from Viper's bared head. There was so much rage, confusion and grief in Viper's voice, and the face that she normally hid was now uncovered for them to see, but twisted in emotions that he had only seen her vaguely touch on as kids. It was mesmerising.

Her kindness had befriended him when they were younger, but it was her passion that had drawn his attention over and over. The prose that danced from her lips were just a reminder of what he had been aiming for, though over the years his innocent advances had become more of a game than the honest desires he still held for her.

'It is never a game for Viper,' he thought. Was that not why she rejected them as kids? Was that not why she was so focused, so exacting in her performance, despite it being a small recital for two other people to hear?

It was well past the time for Fon to get serious, but that had never stopped him before. He was good at making up for lost time.

* * *

"You live here?!"

"It's not that impressive. There's quite a few Western houses around, you know."

Tsuna just continued to look floored while Reborn walked confidently into his home. Jager opened the door for him, making Tsuna squeak out:

"You have a butler?"

"Several. There's a few maids wandering around as well." Reborn was rather amused by his kouhai's reactions. A dangerous territory to be in, given recent events, but Bermuda had been given strict instructions on when to interfere. Speaking of whom…

"I assure you," the odd-looking man said, making Tsuna jump. "All the servants of the Kawahira household move with the uttermost purpose. No one _wanders_." Bermuda spat the last word out as if it were a grievous insult.

"Bermuda is my chauffeur some days, but mostly is my personal butler."

"Head butler as well, sir." There was an ironic twist to Bermuda's use of Reborn's title, but the two were used to poking inside jabs at each other. "Shall I prepare lunch?"

"I'm fine," Tsuna said hurriedly. "But you can go ahead and eat."

"Bring us both a meal to my room." Reborn rolled his eyes. "We'll be studying there."

"I can be out of your hair in an hour," Tsuna said seriously, staring at Reborn.

Who returned the gesture with a mischievous smile. "You're here at my request. I think it's only fair that you stay as long as I want you to."

"My mother wants me home before dark." Tsuna looked so awkward; it was rather fetching.

"I will have the car waiting at least an hour before nightfall," said Bermuda smoothly.

With the pleasantries sorted, Reborn dragged his reluctant student up the stairs and to his large – and quite impressive, judging by Tsuna's wide-eyed stare – room. Well, considering it was the size of Tsuna's home's lower level and there was a gaming section that was at least the size of Tsuna's kitchen, Reborn didn't blame him.

For the next two hours, they focused on their individual homework, with Reborn assisting (and occasionally smacking Tsuna on the head with a rolled up magazine) when the brunette got stuck.

"You're not half bad at science when you actually try," Reborn commented, quickly scanning Tsuna's work. "Your history and Japanese is terrible, and I'm not even touching your mathematics."

"Wow, please, hold nothing back." Tsuna finished the last bite of his sandwich. "What next?"

"How about a break?" Reborn put the book down. "I'm just about done with my work too." He nodded at his three flat screens and multiple consoles. "You up for playing something?"

Tsuna perked up and practically ran to pick a game. "You really are a rich boy." He looked for a familiar title. "And yet you have such shit taste." He held up some of the dating sim games that were currently in front.

"I play everything because I can afford everything," Reborn said defensively. "Besides, you play them too."

"I do not!" Tsuna scoffed. "I save my money for games that are worth it. Like _The Witcher_ series."

"No need to get defensive. I won't judge you." Reborn sat on his 'gaming couch' while Tsuna continued to sift through his games. "I have _Mario Kart,_ if you want."

"Awesome! Where?"

While Reborn pulled it out from a different shelf, Tsuna repacked the games he had been going through, and then poked his tutor in the chest. "For the record, I really don't play those games. They're time-consuming and monotonous."

"And not only do you know that, but your favourite game is _The Model's Dreamboat 2,_ " said Reborn, placing the disc inside his Xbox.

Tsuna stared at him in mild astonishment. "That's not my favourite game. I prefer things like _Don't Starve_ and _Bastion_. _Skyrim_ and _Dragon Age_ are pretty cool too. But I have played _Dreamboat_ before with Haru, so I know exactly how shit it is. She loves the series, almost as much as _League of Legends._ "

'Fuck you, Viper,' Reborn thought with venom. No guarantees indeed.

Trying to play it cool, he ignored the obvious and instead discussed the merits of _Bastion_ until Tsuna comfortable enough to join Reborn on the couch. They paused their conversation only for the matches themselves – which Reborn obviously dominated. Tsuna just managed to win the last of four games.

"Hah!" he announced triumphantly, throwing the controller down in victory. "Finally!"

"You finally managed not to suck so badly." Reborn smirked as Tsuna collapsed backwards on the large divan. His head rested on the armrest, while his legs hung off the side.

"It's not my fault," Tsuna groused, tossing his arm over the curved backrest. "I've only played it once with Haru, in a shop before we decided not to get it."

"Not having any friends to play with is a good excuse as any."

Tsuna frowned and stared at the screen. "Whatever."

That… was probably not the smartest thing to say. At least his sucker punch skills were still on par.

"Hey," he nudged Tsuna's knee but was ignored. "Hey!"

Tsuna shut his eyes and took a breath. "Forget it." He drew himself up on his elbows. "We've wasted a lot of time. Shall I go home?"

Reborn rested his hand on the armrest behind Tsuna, and for a second they both stopped breathing. There was less than a hand span between their faces.

"It was just trash talk. I didn't mean anything by it." His words seemed to brush against Tsuna's tanned cheeks. Reborn made a face. "I hate being apologetic. Stop it."

"I'm not doing anything," Tsuna breathed, but his eyes got fractionally less wide. "Back up."

"Are you sure about that?" Reborn didn't move an inch. "You don't seem to mind that much."

"I think you've consistently proved that you know nothing about me." Tsuna put his hands on his senior's chest and pushed. "Move."

Reborn pulled back, but his hands captured Tsuna's and kept them in the position. "Your wish is my command." Tsuna was now sitting up, their knees brushing. Reborn moved their hands to his lap. "Told you I won't push you."

"Why won't you let this go?" Tsuna muttered. He pulled his hands away.

"I already told you." Reborn crossed his legs. "What more do you want from me?"

"To stop being confusing! Go pick any one of your admirers to mess with!"

Reborn sighed. "I just want to get to know you."

" _That_ ," Tsuna pointed at the armrest he had been leaning on, "was not getting to know me. It was getting into my pants."

"Ah, so you liked it that much?"

Tsuna's face burned. "Just… stop."

Reborn refused. "What are your criteria for dating someone?"

"I thought you weren't gay?"

"Why do you remember the stupid things and ignore the important ones?"

"I'm pretty sure the conversation that started all this isn't silly!"

"Actually, the conversation that precipitated this was the time you caught me smoking on the roof. It helped that the lunch you left was good."

Tsuna gasped and poked Reborn's chest accusingly. "It was you! Do you know how much trouble I got in with Hibari because you ate his bento?"

"Why are you feeding him? Do you like him?" Reborn frowned.

"No, not that it's your business anyway."

"Good. Have you noticed how you keep finding excuses to touch me?"

Tsuna snatched back his hands as if they had been burnt.

"I don't mind." Reborn smirked. "It's just proof that you are attracted to me."

"You're crushing me beneath your ego," Tsuna deadpanned. "Seriously, I'm suffocating here. There's not enough space in this whole house for it."

Reborn's lips tugged higher. He reached out and ran his smooth fingernail down Tsuna's cheek. The brunette followed the motion with wary eyes.

"One date," the older boy said. "If you like it, we can try again. If you don't, I'll stop coming onto you."

Tsuna's face reddened, and he turned away. "Why do you want to?"

Reborn slid closer. "Because I want to get to know you more." He grasped Tsuna's chin gently and turned it towards him. "You interest me. Is that not enough?"

Tsuna shrugged slightly. "I don't know these things. I've never… done anything like this before."

"I don't date," Reborn said. "So it's new to both of us, in a way." He dropped his hold on Tsuna but remained close. "All I'm asking for is one chance."

Tsuna bit his bottom lip, his eyes searching Reborn's for something. It was a futile attempt, since he had already proven to be a terrible judge of character. However, he seemed to find something in Reborn to trust, because he sat up straighter and said:

"Okay."

And just like that, Reborn had a date.

* * *

"I hope you didn't wait too long!"

"No, no, I had so much luggage to collect that it took at least half an hour. And they had a really cool manga store! Is that normal here? I didn't think such a small domestic airport would have so many stores."

"Namimori is a big town, and we're close to a military base."

"Ah, so they built an airport here, where it's less of a security risk."

"I suppose so. Is this everything?"

"Yeah. I'm surprised everything fits!"

"A friend lent me his car to come collect you. I love the excuse to drive!"

"Thank you so much for everything."

"Nonsense: you're practically family! Now get in, and I hope you didn't eat anything!"

"I didn't want to risk missing out on your delicious cooking. It always looks so good on the screen!"

"Ara, you're making me blush! Don't forget to buckle your seatbelt! Oh, and welcome to Japan, Hayato-kun!"

"Thank you for your kindness, Nana-san."


	13. Making Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All the world-building and Hayato explores Namimori town. Also, Bluebell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s so much happy friendship fluff in this chapter! I love, love, love it!! Sorry for the extreme lateness and shortness of the chapter, and for not replying to comments. I’ve honestly had the most hectic year, and just don’t have time for anything anymore, it seems… Anyway, here’s a summary of the story thus far: 
> 
> Reborn is obsessive, especially about Tsuna and has quit coffee. Verde is enjoying his tumblr and now mobile messages with Skull, although neither know who the other is. Skull is a happy-go-lucky guy who pines after Hibari. Hibari doesn’t enjoy getting teased about Dino, who was turned down by Hibari, and Hibari also doesn’t like Fon interfering in his business. Fon does not like Dino, but loudly proclaims and acts on his love for Viper, whose main focus is on her and Skull’s production of the play ‘The Tragedy of Miriam’. She does spare time, as does Hibari, to help with Skull’s successful shoujo manga based on Skull’s neighbours, Squalo and Colonnello. Colonnello, a successful teen model, confessed to the girl he stalks, Lal, who ended up punching and forgetting him. She and Yamamoto are preparing for the Interschool Survival Game, which Midori and Namimori High are jointly hosting. Midori High’s survival club – run by the disciplinary committee’s Xanxus and Squalo - is gunning for them, wanting revenge for their last defeat. Haru is developing a crush on Fran, who is mysteriously connected to someone from Reborn’s family and has given Reborn’s personal manservant, Bermuda, a month to break off Reborn’s latest obsession i.e. Tsuna. Meanwhile, Reborn has finally got Tsuna to agree to go out with him, and Hayato, Tsuna’s emotional support penpal from therapy, has just come down from Italy.  
> I may have missed things (such as Nana being divorced but now dating someone) but this is the general gist that I hope will jog your memory. It has been so long!! T-T

“Oh my Gryffindor!!”

“I thought Haru was a Hufflepuff?”

“Nah, the new _Pottermore_ put her in Gryffindor.”

“Oh my GODRIC!”

“She’s really embracing her new house, huh?”

“The flashy colours suit her designs.”

“HARU CAN’T BELIEVE YOU’RE A REAL PERSON!”

“You’ve known me for how long?” Hayato groaned, but a smile tugged on his lips, half-hidden by the bowl of rice he was eating. “And we’ve skyped how many times?”

“But you’re here!” Haru continued, eyes comically wide. “And you’re hot! Haru always thought it was your filters, but you’re really handsome!”

“Haru, you know there’s no filters on Skype.” Tsuna laughed, his chest tight with happiness.

“You never know what these Italians might have created! They can be very vain, you know.”

“You watch too much _Hetalia_ ,” Tsuna retorted, biting into a rolled omelette.

“Eh, it’s kind of true.” Hayato put the bowl down and winked. “So you find me attractive, silly woman?”

“Don’t call Haru that!” Haru smacked his arm. “Haru will now stop referring to herself entirely in third person.”

“It’s fine. You’re not going to confuse me.” Hayato waved his hand dismissively. “I’ve practised my Japanese loads.”

“That’s my dangerous personality,” Haru explained. “I’m still working on it for when I make it big as a designer!”

“Well, that explains why I haven’t heard you speak like that before.” Hayato put his chopsticks down. “Did you bring the last of the paperwork?”

“Yup! Here you go!”

“What paperwork?”

“Hayato-kun changed schools so he can go with you! Isn’t that sweet, Tsu-kun?” Nana gushed as she poured out some coffee for the blushing Italian.

“Eh? But you have a uniform already and everything!”

“Haru and I sorted it all out.” Nana patted her son on the back before moving back to the stove.

Tsuna bumped his shoulder against Hayato’s, smiling to himself. Even though his mother had sprung the surprise at dinner yesterday, he still couldn’t quite believe that all of his friends were physically in the same room as him. Judging by Haru (who had known Hayato was coming for so long!), he wasn’t the only one.

“You guys are the best people in the whole world,” Tsuna said sincerely.

Haru blew him a kiss and Hayato smiled back at him. Nana just put five containers on the table the three friends were eating breakfast on.

“I made one for each of you, and Hibari-san and that girl you said you were eating with today!”

Tsuna blinked. “Girl?”

“Kyoko, silly! You were talking my ear off about it day before yesterday.” Haru snapped her fingers. “Oh, that’s right! I brought you guys your new phones.” She pulled two mobiles – one orange, the other red - out of her pocket and handed it to him. “Fully charged and programmed right.”

“Thanks, Haru! I suck at tech.” Tsuna took the orange with a grateful smile.

“And I have no idea how these Japanese service providers operate, so really, thanks.” Hayato took the red smart phone from Haru and switched to the camera. “How about a group selfie? I need a proper wallpaper and this cat isn’t going to cut it.”

The lens captured four faces smiling brightly, despite the expression being so unused on them. Bidding farewell to Nana, the three friends gathered their things and rushed out the home. Halfway down the road, Hayato was sending the picture to the others, when Haru stopped and asked:

“Tsuna, how did you forget about your lunch with Kyoko?”

“Ummm…” Tsuna rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “You know my tutoring session yesterday?”

“The one with the weird sempai?” Hayato asked.

“Yeah… He kind of asked me out.”

“What?!” yelled the other two. “How could you not tell us?”

“I forgot. I was too excited about Hayato.”

Said silverette rolled his eyes. “Get it over it already. I’m here to stay.” He swung his arm over Tsuna’s shoulder and Haru did the same. “Tell us what happened?”

It felt so different to have them both next to him. Tsuna’s cheeks would begin to hurt soon from all this smiling. “Nothing. We just did work, took a break to play some games and he asked me to give him one chance to change my mind about dating him, and I said okay. I mean, it’s a win-win, right?”

“Well, you are attracted to him,” Haru conceded. “And you’d be so cute together!”

“I really need to see this guy in person.” Hayato frowned. “Did he tell you anything about the date?”

“No, just that it will be the Sunday after the Survival Game Tournament... which is this Saturday. Oh, and he asked if I had running shoes. Is that weird?”

“Yes,” chorused the other two.

Tsuna shrugged helplessly. “It’s still a while away. How about we spend today together after school? I’ll cancel my tutoring.”

“And I’ll get out of my club activities.” Haru pulled away as they came to the intersection. “See you guys soon!”

“We’ll meet you at your school gate!” Tsuna called after her retreating back. She waved as she disappeared around a corner.

“Alright, let’s do this.” Hayato rolled his shoulders. “I haven’t done public school in…ever.”

“Relax; you’ll be fine.” Tsuna hooked their arms together. “In fact, this is going to be the best day ever!”

Hayato laughed. With Tsuna and Haru at his side? He had little doubt that this would be the best decision he had ever made.

Neither counted on the baseball that knocked Hayato out a minute later.

* * *

“Say ‘aah’.”

“Tsuna, I don’t have a concussion.”

“You say that, but you nearly took out your eye with your chopsticks. Just let me baby you.”

“Did you have to say ‘baby’? Now I definitely want to feed myself!”

“Honestly, Hayato. I will get on this bed and shove it in myself.”

“Hey, what are you-?”

“Am I interrupting something?” Reborn said coolly, pushing open the curtain surrounding the new transfer student’s bed. He restrained himself from twitching at the sight of Tsuna crawling over the newbie’s lap, one hand on the stranger’s shoulder and the other occupied with chopsticks.

“Ah, Reborn!” Tsuna greeted after a beat of awkward silence. “Can we help you?”

“Who’s the blonde?” Reborn evaded.

“My hair is silver, actually,” Hayato retorted. “And wow, rude.”

“I warned you.” Tsuna rolled his eyes.

“How sweet. You talk about me to your…” Reborn tried to find an appropriate word. “I’d say acquaintance, but we’re acquainted and yet you still won’t crawl onto my lap.”

Tsuna frowned. “What are you…?” Then he realised what his current position was. What it looked like. A blush stained his cheeks and he scrambled onto his knees.

“Hey!” Hayato snapped, wrapping an arm around Tsuna’s shoulders and pulling him back to his chest. “Stop picking on my best friend!” He turned his back on Reborn and then winked at his friend. “Why don’t you send Mr Tall, Dark and Desperate away?”

“Are you sure you’re not concussed?” Tsuna asked, but his lips twitched as he contained a smile. “I’ll talk to you later, Reborn.”

“The hell you will. You cancelled tuition, which is unacceptable, to cuddle with this guy?”

“Cuddling disrupts the peace,” a deadly voice intoned from behind Reborn. Stepping out of the shadows was Hibari Kyoya, eyes murderously focused on the exposed bed. “Disruptions will be bitten to death.”

“Hiiie!” Tsuna yelped. He hadn’t had a proper run in with Hibari in ages, other than the near daily beatings for being late and those were half-hearted at this point. He had forgotten exactly how terrifying the prefect could be.

Reborn rolled his eyes and gave Tsuna a look that promised retribution later. “Well, if it isn’t Fon’s little-” He barely dodged the tonfa aimed at his face.

“Shall I bite you to death?” If anything, Hibari looked angrier.

“Don’t be like that. Familial-” He dodged another tonfa. “Honestly, can a guy just finish-?” He bent under one slash and moved to the left to dodge another. Then he jumped backwards, back to the door with Hibari advancing. “Shall we do this properly then? No holds barred?”

Hibari’s eyes promised death. He launched himself at Reborn and the two of them disappeared out of the door, the sounds of screams and screeching furniture following in their wake.

“Well, that was strange.” Hayato flopped back on his back, rubbing at his head that was beginning to ache.

“You get used to Hibari after a while,” Tsuna said, putting the omelette back in the bento box as he settled next to Hayato.

“And Reborn?”

Tsuna scratched his head.

“You just attract the weirdoes, Tsuna.” Hayato patted his arm. “He is good looking though.”

Tsuna tossed an arm over his face. “Does that make me shallow?”

“Love stories don’t always need a grand beginning.”

A knock on the still open door cut off Tsuna’s reply. “Is this a bad time?” Sasagawa Kyoko asked, holding a bento box as she peered into the nurse’s rooms.

“Ah, Kyoko-chan!” Tsuna waved. “And Kurokawa-san!”

The two girls greeted them with differing levels of enthusiasm. Hana raked her eyes over their new transfer student, scoffing.

“Are we seriously spending our break with these losers? You know what they’re really after, right?”

Hayato’s eyes narrowed but Kyoko intervened before he could say a word.

“I told you not to come if you didn’t want to, Hana. I’m here to see Tsuna.”

“As if I’d let you be alone with him after that letter incident.”

“He is right here and can hear you just fine.” Tsuna frowned. “Neither of you need to be here, you know.”

“I want to,” Kyoko insisted, taking one of the empty chairs and pulling it closer to the bed. “Now, why don’t you tell me about yourself, Gokudera-kun?”

The tense atmosphere created by Hana’s words slowly faded, replaced by awkward conversation over shared food. Passerbys were surprised by the sight, though only two lingered. The brunette decided against entering, while the greenette decided to shut the door and hope his obsessive friend missed the cosy scene.

* * *

“Alright, here’s my credit card for the rest of the day. And don’t forget to walk Haru home after supper!”

“Bye, Nana-san!” the teens chorused while Tsuna packed the card carefully away. “Enjoy your date!”

She laughed as she walked towards the bus stop in the fading dusk. No stars had shown themselves yet, but the lamps were already lit along the pathway that cut through the quiet park. Hayato tossed their empty takoyaki tray in the trash bin while the other two remained seated, looking over Tsuna’s list. He had been compiling it wishfully for a while now, noting down all the things he wanted to experience with Hayato, and Haru had helped. It felt crazy that they were not even a quarter way through, despite spending the whole afternoon focusing on it.

“There’s too many date-specific things there,” Hayato complained after he sat back on the park bench. “Why can’t we just go to the temple now?”

“No!” his friends protested vehemently.

“It’s more special if we go for New Year’s! It will be just like in anime!” Haru explained excitedly.

“And we need to dress up traditionally for it too!” Tsuna added.

Hayato gave up. Obviously they had some romantic notions in their head that they would refuse to change. He couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face.

“Let’s just go with _TakeSushi_ ,” Haru decided, pointing at one of Tsuna’s more recent entries. “Nana-san won’t mind.”

“But what about _Nona’s_? I want to hear Hayato complain about how not Italian it is.”

“Ooooh, that would be nice too!”

“I vote sushi,” Hayato interjected. “And I can pay for myself. Nana-san didn’t let us pay for anything today.”

“She’ll get mad,” Tsuna said warningly.

“It was so nice to have her come with us.” Haru sighed. “Although I think she just came along for the cake.”

The trio smiled as they remembered Nana’s earlier shenanigans in Haru’s favourite patisserie.

_“Oh no, I don’t think I could eat another bite!” Nana groaned as she speared a piece of German apple cake. “I’ll rip my new dress!” She ate it anyway._

_“What a lovely custard! Do you think the chef would give me the recipe?”_

_“The chef was so kind! I do think I will come here again!”_

_“Oh, the chef sent all of this for me? This is so much cake! I couldn’t possibly-!”_

_“Oh, that broke my heart. The chef was so sweet, but I’m already seeing someone. I couldn’t not tell him.”_

_“Do tell Yamaki-san that I will be back for his delicious bake goods! And – oh, he said I should take this home? He really is the sweetest.”_

 “Do you two still not know who she’s dating?” Hayato asked.

 “Mum will tell me when she’s ready. Anyone is better than Iemitsu though.”

“It’s too hard to guess! Everyone falls in love with Nana-san!” Haru pouted. “I need to learn her ways.”

“It’s all in her smile,” Hayato said, nodding sagely. “It makes you feel – warm. Loved. Like you could do anything.”

Tsuna’s lips quirked. “Sometimes.”

Unspoken history hung in the air, before Haru linked their arms and dragged them to their feet. “It’s sushi time! We don’t want to have to wait if it gets too busy.”

“I’m still full though…” Hayato said, rubbing his stomach.

“We will be hungry by the time we get there!”

* * *

_TakeSushi_ was packed for a Wednesday night. Lal fumbled with a menu as she rushed to greet the latest group waiting at the entrance. She hurried them to their seats before returning to collect an order that Takeshi was trying to figure out who it was for.

“Haha, Lal, your handwriting is getting worse!”

“Go sort out table five,” she snapped, brushing some unruly strands of hair from her face. The ambient lighting caught on the gleaming fatty tuna on her serving tray as she deposited it before her fussiest – and worse – customers of the night. “Anything else I can get for you?” she asked loudly, to be heard over the drunkards two tables over.

“Ushishishi, bring me a bottle of your best wine!”

“I’m afraid we don’t serve alcohol to minors,” Lal said for the umpteenth time.

“Baka brother!” laughed the other blond at the table, causing his twin to glare at him.

“If that will be all…” Lal said, carefully stealing away the silverware that she was sure had not been there ten minutes ago.

“Be gone, peasant!” Belphagor snapped.

“Usheshe, bring me a refill of Fanta!” Rasiel called after her retreating back.

“Next time you get the psychotic twins,” Lal growled at Takeshi, who had just picked up an order.

Takeshi shrugged. “They always ask for you.” He paused. “I can take table six off your hands, if you like.”

“Don’t you have your hands full?” his father asked, deftly cutting up some salmon. He ignored the loud cheers from the party of twelve. “What a day to be short-staffed.”

“The twins need all of Lal’s attention! I can take one extra table until they leave.”

Lal said nothing as she filled a glass with bright soda, while Takeshi rushed off to deliver an order to one of his tables. After enduring another bout of nagging from the twins, she grabbed Takeshi's arm as he passed by. “You can have the table, but I want to know why.”

Takeshi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as they navigated their way to his father. “I may have hit one of them this morning…”

“You got into a fight?” Lal hissed. She dodged one of the drunks as he called for the bill.

“No, no! I was practicing my pitching with Hasegawa and he missed the catch. I didn’t have time to go apologise this morning.”

“Takeshi!” Tsuyoshi scolded. He popped a platter of sushi in front of his son. “I raised you better! Take this to them as an apology, and look after them for the night.”

“Thanks, dad!” Takeshi grinned and walked off.

“Tch. The idiot was supposed to take a rest day today.” Lal shook her head, before pasting on a smile to deal with a different table.

“Welcome to _TakeSushi_!” Takeshi greeted, standing before the group of strangers. “Here’s a complimentary plate of sushi to start you off.”

“Oh, thank you!” Tsuna bowed his head.

“They just give it away?” Hayato asked, eyebrow raised.

“Ah, no, this is to show my regret.” Takeshi bowed. “My deepest apologies for hitting you in the head with a baseball this morning.”

“Ah, it was you!” Hayato raged, standing up. He spewed forth a host of Italian insults while a horrified Tsuna and blushing Haru tried to get him to calm down.

“Ah...” Takeshi blinked, bemused. The teen he had hit looked quite… pleasant. He was reminded a bit of the Midori High student that he and Lal sometimes faced in survival games. But this boy’s silver hair was short, and his eyes a delicate green that practically glowed with his ire. Takeshi continued to stare, and slowly the boy’s insults turned to spluttering and a light blush began creeping onto his face.

“Why the fuck are you staring at me like that?” Hayato snapped at their server, finally noting the eyes of the other patrons. Shit, he forgot that he was in a different country now, and one that would definitely think him crude.

“Was I?” Takeshi says pleasantly, blinking away his observations. “I just realised that I don’t know your name.”

Hayato would have snapped again, if it hadn’t been for Haru and Tsuna’s pleading eyes. “Gokudera Hayato,” he begrudgingly said instead.

Takeshi’s smile brightened his face. “I’ll remember that! Us upperclassmen have to take care of our kohai, after all.” He ruffled Gokudera’s hair before walking off, leaving the silverette to splutter indignantly in his wake.

“What the hell was that?” He looked at his friends for an explanation as he sat down. “Who the fuck was that?”

“Yamamoto Takeshi,” Tsuna explained. “He’s one of the star members of Namimori High’s baseball team and a year above us.”

“His father owns this place,” Haru added. “And from what I’ve seen and heard of him, he’s really friendly.”

“Yeah, well, update that information: he is an annoying moron. The bastard didn’t even take our order!” Hayato huffed, crossing his arms.

“In the meantime, let’s just enjoy your first time eating real sushi!” Haru said, clapping her hands.

Hayato side-eyed her. “Selfie time?”

She grinned. “You bet.”

Hayato leaned closer to her and Tsuna leaned over him, smiles on all their faces as she readied the camera.

“Ni!” they chorused brightly and snapped a photo.

* * *

“I don’t think this is a good idea.”                                       

“Judging by your face, I’d say your judgement is currently impaired.”

Colonnello scowled at the pretty girl sipping tea in front of him and forced himself not to touch the bruise that had still not faded from his face. “Why do I even put up with you, kora?”

“Because I’m the only other model you know?” Bluebell tossed her hair. “I’m way out of your league though.”

“Then why go along with this silly idea?” Colonnello replied.

“Because it’s perfect timing!” his agent, Lancia, explained patiently. “ _Love Suburbia_ is going to cast the drama’s protagonists next week, and you’ve been begging to get into acting.”

“Yes, but –”

“And the producers decided to cast newbies in the role, because they want it to be authentic,” Zakuro, Bluebell’s manager, cut across Colonnello briskly.

“What’s more authentic for a story about two friends that love each other, than real life childhood friends,” Bluebell waves to indicate the two of them, “who have recently revealed that they’ve been dating?”

“But I-”

“And it’s not like it’s totally a lie,” Lancia steamrolled past Colonnello’s protests. “You and Bluebell have been friends since you entered the media scene, and there’s always been rumours of the two of you together. Especially since you do a lot of photoshoots together.”

“It’s not my fault Japan likes to stick the foreigners together,” grumbled Colonnello.

“Who knows?” Zakuro finished his coffee. “Maybe you two might actually make it work.”

“Hmph!” Bluebell wrinkled her nose. “As if! I have my sights set on someone better.”

“I’m not quite sure I’m ready to die when Kikyo’s jealousy rears his head, kora” Colonnello says drily. “I could always shoot him in the head! But the bastard is sneaky.”

“Kikyo and I are just friends,” Bluebell replied, pouting. “But yes, I’m hoping he will make a move once he sees me dating someone else.”

“So you’re just planning on using me to snap your dreamy idol boyfriend.”

“It’s just creepy when you call him dreamy.” Bluebell smirked. “Besides, it’s not like you have anyone in your life, so why are you arguing about this?”

“It will be really good for your career, and if we manage to get onto _Love Suburbia_ , your popularity will continue to soar.” Lancia finished his tea and leaned back. “Are you in or out?”

Colonnello turned his face away as he contemplated his options. He didn’t want to do this. It felt wrong, and he couldn’t really see himself faking it very well with Bluebell. Besides, what if Lal was the kind of girl who followed celebrity gossip, minor though it will be? If she sees him saying that he’s been dating Bluebell, will she think of him as a two-timing jerk? Then again, she obviously didn’t recognise him… so maybe not?

“Needless to say,” Bluebell interrupted his thoughts, “we will eventually break up on mutually agreeable terms. We will say that we decided we were better friends. And you are absolutely not allowed to cheat on me. We’re going to sell this _well_.” Her eyes gleamed. “Or I’ll sic my brother on you.”

Colonnello shuddered. He had some very vivid details of her brother smiling and eating marshmallows while describing in graphic detail the things he would do if Colonnello ever allowed Bluebell to be hurt. And that was just when he was a friend. He was not looking forward to the boyfriend shovel talk.

“You’ll tell him it’s not real though, right?” Colonnello pleaded.

“Of course she will,” Lancia said, just as Bluebell agreed.

She glared at him for speaking for her before saying, “I would never lie to my brother. You know that. But I won’t tell anyone else. Who knows who would spill the beans and ruin things?”

Colonnello sighed. He had a feeling he was going to get the talk anyway. “Fine, but I’m telling Squalo. For how long will we pretend?”

“It depends on the reception and how things go with the series, provided we even get the job,” Zakuro explained. “I have places to get to, boy, so give me your answer.

It felt like a betrayal to even say it, but perhaps he could use this time to just get Lal to notice him. Heck, maybe Bluebell could even give him some advice (though judging by Kikyo and her’s lack of a relationship, she was hardly an expert). “I’ll do it.”

Zakuro clapped his hands together sarcastically. “I now announce you to be boyfriend and girlfriend!”

Colonnello clinked his glass with Bluebell’s, and hoped he wouldn’t regret his decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this chapter reads like a filler, but doesn’t the whole story seem that way? But if it makes you feel better, the Survival Game is only 2 chapters away!  
> I’m so sorry for not replying to your comments, especially Mimichan, lalaloopsy and Kagamine Hikari, and I will try to get to them later. Just know that I appreciate every single one and on bad days, I love going through them and getting to know some of the people reading my story. They really help, and give me the motivation to continue.  
> And thank you to the people who leave kudos behind, such as  
> myvividreams, Alpha_Sama_Beta_San, Elshell, Freezing_Of_a_Heart, mikoserena, NewandImprovedTrashcan, Vree, FuocoBaisse, Ynius, NagisaYuu1827, CrimsonLaurana, Umbra, anadreyar, loussi, orange_popcicle_stick, tatata03, amekan, blackraven623, MadamMacaron, Dulikkitee, Faychan, Ming028, pendragonlord, SolemnlySociopathic, Ladiiwhisper, rainxsky13 and all the guests. I appreciate it all, even just the people who pop by to read only. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter despite the long wait :) (and please tell me if I made any errors)


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